Christmas Presents
by Cassie Valentine
Summary: Now complete. Neleh makes a smooth fit in with the crew, but is there something more for Harper and Rommie?
1. Now run along and clean up your toys. Ye...

This was a Christmas Present for Erin, and it refused to end. She asked for a "happy, nothing goes wrong, fluf piece." So, blame her for the sappyness!  
  
Christmas Presents  
  
Cassie Valentine  
  
"Will you stop humming that song?" Harper asked Beka as he came onto the bridge of the Maru. She smiled.  
  
"I can't help it. I'm happy to be going home." she turned at looked at him.  
  
"I mean, I know we were only gone for 3 days, but I miss them."  
  
"And exactly who are "them"? Rev and Trance? Tyr and Rommie? I mean, it couldn't possibly be that kid and that guy. What's their names again?"  
  
"Shut up Harper." she said with a smile as he sauntered of the bridge, laughing.  
  
"You really are dead gone on him aren't you? I mean, you turned down every guy, EVERY GUY in that bar Valentine, weither it was so they could dance with you or buy you a drink, it didn't matter." Harper called from behind some panel.  
  
"So? Maybe I've finally found Mr. Right." Beka said with a smile as she looked over her shoulder at him.  
  
"Right, Mr. Right. You've found Mr. Right. You're a gas Beka, you know that?"  
  
"Hey! It could happen. I mean, you guys didn't see me with a kid any time soon in the future did you?" She watched as he opened his mouth, then shut it again.  
  
"No. I honestly didn't see that one coming, then again, I should have seen the unseeable in your future. You're a walking contradiction."  
  
"I thought that was Trance." Beka replied.  
  
"Either way, it's an interchangeable expression wiht the two of you." Harper stood up and wiped his hands on his cargo pants, the red pair. "Well, that's fixed."  
  
"What did you fix?"  
  
"Never you mind. Trust in the Harper . ." he said.  
  
"The Harper is good." they finished together with a laugh. "I think I've known you too long Seamus."  
  
"Nah, we're just right." he said as he came to stand beside the slip chair.  
  
"Are we there yet?" she shot him a look.  
  
"This is the Maru to Andromeda, we're 15 minutes out and our belly is full. Make some room guys, we're ready to party. Maru out." she said as she closed the channel. "Just about Harper. Now run along and clean up your toys."  
  
"Okay mom!" he said with sarcastic enthusiasim. She just laughed as he left.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"How much longer 'til they get back?"  
  
"14 minutes and 35 seconds." Cassie waited a few minutes.  
  
"Now how long?'  
  
"13 minutes and 57 seconds." Rommie replied.  
  
"And now?"  
  
"13 minutes and 46 seconds." Rommies hologram apeared in front of Cassidie.  
  
"Asking every few minutes will not bring them back faster."  
  
"How do you know?" Cassie asked.  
  
"Trust me." the hologram said with a smile as she walked over to the girl.  
  
"What are you doing?"  
  
"Drawin'." she said, not looking up from her picture, her long hair falling over her face.  
  
"Drawing what?" Cassie stopped and looked at the hologram that was now walking on the table.  
  
"A picture silly!" she said with a smile as she went back to it. Rommie shook her head.  
  
"Of what?"  
  
"It's a surprise." she said as she quickly covered it. "Don't look! It's for you, well, Andromeda, ah . . . the three of you!" she finished quickly. Rommie smiled. She still hadn't gotten the hang of the pronouns for the three of her.  
  
"Don't worry, I won't look and I didn't see anything. Would you like me to go?" she asked.  
  
"No. Just close your eyes and I'll put it away." she said.  
  
"Okay." And Rommie closed her eyes and Cassidie hopped of the chair and ran to Dylans office.  
  
"Hey shorty, what can I do for you?"  
  
"Can you make sure this doesn't get wreaked? It's for the Rommies, but I don't want her to see until it's done."  
  
"Okay, I'll put it in the drawer." he said as he took it from her.  
  
"Thanks Dylan!" she said as she gave him a hug and took off into the other room again.  
  
"Okay, you can look now. Would you like to colour with me?" she asked.  
  
"I'd love to, but I can?t hold onto the crayons. I can send my Avatar down if you like."  
  
"No, it's okay. Would you like to pick the picture?" she asked as she got out a Christmas colouring book.  
  
"Sure!" the little hologram said as she walked over to the other side of the book. "Oh, guess what?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"They're back!" Rommie said as Cassie's face lit up.  
  
"DYLAN, THEY'RE BACK!" she yelled as she scrambled away from the table and  
  
out the door just as Rommie anounced that to him.  
  
"Where'd she go?" he asked when he got out into the hallway.  
  
"Don't worry, my avatar caught her." holo-Rommie said.  
  
"Oh good. All I need to do is explain to Beka that I lost her. . . ." he said as he took off in a light jog to catch them.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 


	2. The finishing touch was the star placed ...

"Beka!" Cassi called out as she ran as fast as her little, legs would take her to the figure imerging out of the Maru. "Hey! You're not Beka, you're Harper!" she said as she stopped short in front of him.  
  
"Ah, right again short stuff, but never fear, she's here." he said as he smiled down at her and went to great the others. "So, tell me the truth, did ya miss me?" he asked the group and was greated with many sarcastic answers.  
  
"Ah, I knew you guys loved me!"  
  
"Harper, are you sure she's in there?" Cassie called out.  
  
"Yea, I'm sure. See, there she is." he said as he pointed at the figure comming out of the Maru.  
  
"Beka!" she cried as she launched herself at her.  
  
"Hey Kiddo!" she said with a smile as she scooped her up. "How are you?"  
  
"Good. I missed you." she said as she wrapped her arms around Beka's neck.  
  
"I missed you too."  
  
"What about me?" Dylan asked after the others had said their hello's and then left.  
  
"Don't worry, I missed you too." she said as she kissed him.  
  
"Oh good. Did you get everything?" he asked as he wrapped an arm around her waist and they left the docking bay.  
  
"Yes I did, and a few extras too."  
  
"Like?"  
  
"P-R-E-S-E-N-T-S," she spelled, "For her, you and everybody for Christmas. Harper picked up some nice stuff to. He acctually has pretty good taste when he has money." she said with a smile. "So what have to two of you been up to?"  
  
"Nothing but work for me. Even when there are only two of you gone, it makes a lot more work."  
  
"Poor you." she said sarcastically.  
  
"Yeah, poor me. You didn't happen to bring back something I can open early did you?" he asked suggestively.  
  
"Were you a good boy?"  
  
"A very good boy." he said with a smile.  
  
"Then maybe I have something you can open tonight." he just chuckled a little. "And what about you, what did you do?" there was silence. "Cass?" she asked again, getting a little worried. Dylan leaned over and looked at Cass.  
  
"Looks like it finally caught up with her."  
  
"What did?"  
  
"The excitement, you being away, everything. She was having problems falling asleep and she'd get up early and wouldn't take a nap. I guess now that you're home, she's gonna start catching up."  
  
"It's nice to know that I'm needed for something." she said with a sarcastic smile as they entered their quarters, which happened to be Dylans. Beka went and put Cass in her bed and tucked her in. "I hope she sleeps for a while. I don't want a cranky kid." she said as she walked back out into the larger room. Beka sauntered over to where he was sitting and just looked at him. He stared back.  
  
"What?" he asked.  
  
"Nothin'." she said with a little smile as she continued to stare at him.  
  
"WHAT?" he asked a little louder, he started to look around him and at his uniform to see if anything was out of place.  
  
"Nothin'. I've just missed playing with your mind." she said as she started to laugh and sat beside him. The look he shot her just made her laugh even harder.  
  
"Playing with my mind hun? Well, I guess I'll just have to get my revenge." he said as she pounced on her and pinned her to the couch and made up for some of the 'together' time they had missed.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Christmas was fast aproaching and everyone was excited, expecially Cassidie. This was her first real Christmas and the more people told her, the more excited she got.  
  
"Beka!" she called as she came barreling down the hallway.  
  
"Cassie!" she called back as she put down what she was carrying.  
  
"Know what?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Santa has 9 Reigndeer and one of them even has a red nose! His name is Rudolph and the others are Dancer, and Prancer and Commet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen and Dasher and Vixen and they all pull his sleigh and they fly so that he can give presents to everyone!" Beka laughed at her enthusiasim and picked the things back up. "Where are you going?"  
  
"Hydroponics. Wanna come?"  
  
"Yeah!" she said as she jumped up and hung on to Beka's gun belt. "Beka?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Santa only gives presents to the good kids right?"  
  
"Yup."  
  
"Is Santa gonna come this year?"  
  
"He comes every year."  
  
"He's never come to me before." she said softly. Beka sighed and stopped. She put down the parts she was carrying and pulled Cassidie towards her.  
  
"Well, he's comming for sure this year."  
  
"How do you know? I always tried to be good before and he never came." she said softly, tears stinging at her eyes.  
  
"It wasn't your fault he didn't come. He was just saving up all your presents to give you a big one."  
  
"How big?" she asked.  
  
"Well, I think your big present was us finding you. I also think it was one of the best presents we ever could have gotten."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Really." she said as she wipped away the stray tears. "Come on, no crying this close to Christmas. Let's go put this stuff away and then we'll help decorate the tree."  
  
"The tree? Trance is letting us have a tree?"  
  
"Well, she's letting us borrow it. As long as we don't hurt it and we're not going to." Beka said as they continued on their way.  
  
"Oh good. I don't want Trance to be sad either." Beka watched as she skipped into hydroponics, telling everyone but Harper her new piece of information. He was the one that was telling her all of this. She smiled as she felt a pair of warm arms circle her from behind.  
  
"Hey you." she said softly.  
  
"Hey. Did she tell you all about Rudolph yet?" she smiled.  
  
"Oh yeah and the other 8. I also had to calm fears that Santa was comming."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"She's never had Christmas before. If she tells you anything about a giant present, I'll explain later."  
  
"Giant present?" he asked.  
  
"Don't worry, she already got it." she felt him rest his forehead against her shoulder. She cuckled. "I'll explain later if she doesn't."  
  
"Oh good, 'cause I have no idea what you're talking about."  
  
"Don't worry, it will all become clear." she said cryptically. "Maybe we should head over."  
  
"First things first." he said as he spun her around.  
  
"What?" he pointed to the ceiling. She looked up. Mistletoe. "Good ol' Harper." she mumbled as they followed through with tradition.  
  
"Hey, there's a minor in the room!" Harper called.  
  
"Ah, she's not looking." Beka said as she took Dylans hand and the two of them made their way over to the tree. Tyr came in later and Rev headed up to the bridge. Rommie came into hydroponics and observed all that was going on. The finishing touch was the star placed on the tree by Cassie who ended up standing on Tyrs shoulders to do it. Beka was not pleased with the means of this, but she enjoyed the end when Cassie was back in her arms. 


	3. Geeze, what is it, a baby?

Well, this part is really long, it should make up for me not posting all that often!  
  
Cassie  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
After 20 minutes of whining about having to be on duty Christmas eve, Harper finally agreed and headed to the bridge.  
  
"Harper?" Rommie the avatar called out.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"I'll join you," she said with a smile.  
  
"Thanks Rom-Doll," he said with a smile as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.  
  
"And you," Dylan said to Cassie as he picked her up, "it's time you were in bed."  
  
"It's early!" she said in protest.  
  
"Santa only comes to little girls who are asleep," he said. She looked over at Beka.  
  
"He's right kiddo. When we get home, it's bath, story, cookies and milk out for Santa then bed."  
  
"What kind of story?" she asked as Dylan passed her to Beka.  
  
"A good one. You'll like it," Dylan said as he went to the mess hall.  
  
"Where's he going?" she asked.  
  
"To get things for Santa and maybe a treat for you before bed," Beka said with a smile as they entered their quarters. Beka put Cassie down and started the water as Cass went to Dylan's desk and pulled out her picture for the Rommies.  
  
"Beka!"  
  
"What!" she said as she came out in hurry.  
  
"I forgot to finish it!" she said as her bottom lip started to tremble. "I didn't finish their Christmas present."  
  
"Do you have a lot left to do?"  
  
"Noooooo . . . . "  
  
"Go finish it up. You'll have a bath after that," she said as she shut off the water. Cassie wiped her eyes and ran into her room and immediately started working on the picture. She came out twenty minutes later and showed it proudly to her. "Very nice! Put it on the table and we'll wrap it in the morning."  
  
"Ok!" she said as she skipped into the bath room." Dylan came in just as Beka had started to braid her now wet hair.  
  
"Hello? Are there any little girls still awake in here?"  
  
"Ummmm . . . no?" Cassie said.  
  
"Oh, okay, I guess I'll take the treat back then." Beka finished the braid and Cassie ran out.  
  
"No, it's okay, I woke up!"  
  
"Oh good," he said with a smile. He sat her down at the coffee table and she thanked him for the treats.  
  
"She won't last much longer," Beka said. "She was half asleep when I took her out of the tub."  
  
"She'll last long enough for the story," Dylan said as he pulled out a real copy of The Night Before Christmas. He went back over to her and they started to read. She was asleep by the time they got to the part about "the big clatter". He carried her to bed and tucked her in and came back out and sat down next to her. "So, what did you get me for Christmas?"  
  
"I dunno, what did you get me?" she asked as she snuggled up to him. He smiled at her and held up a little box.  
  
"Aren't you going to open it?"  
  
"Now?"  
  
"Yeah, when I was a kid, if I could stay up until the end of the story, I got to open one present. You stayed up til the end, so you get to open a present." She took the box from him and took the ribbon off. There was a ring inside.  
  
"Dylan . . I . . ."  
  
"It's not an engagement ring," he said quickly. He felt her relax. "Think of it as more of a promise or friendship ring. An engaged to be engaged ring."  
  
She let him slip it on to her right ring finger and she smiled.  
  
"Where do you come up with this stuff?" she asked.  
  
"I don't know, you just bring it out in me." The two of them shared a laugh.  
  
"So, what did you get me?" he asked again.  
  
"Something good. At least I think it's good," she said.  
  
"Are you going to give it to me?"  
  
"Eventually," she said.  
  
"What? I don't get it now?"  
  
"It's not ready yet." She smiled to herself. She loved this game.  
  
"Okay, when will it be ready?" he asked with a smile. He didn't really enjoy this game.  
  
"In about 7 months," she said calmly, wondering if he'd catch on.  
  
"7 months?" he said again, "Geeze, what is it, a baby?" he said, not really noticing what he had said.  
  
"Well, yeah," she said. He grew quiet.  
  
"You're kidding right?" She turned her head and the two of them looked at each other. "Right?" he asked again. She shook her head and waited as it sunk in. "Wow. Really?"  
  
"Ya hun," she said as she looked out at the stars and he moved his hands down to her lower abdomen.  
  
"Wow." was all he said again. "How long have you known?"  
  
"Just before me and Harper left. He doesn't know and I thought I was going to die if I didn't tell some one." He chuckled.  
  
"That was just about a week ago. How did you last so long?"  
  
"Trance wanted to be sure before she let me go and tell every one."  
  
"So, you can stand to have a baby with me, but not marry me?"  
  
"Hey, I can take this kid and Cassie and leave at any time. I marry you and I'm stuck with you. I don't know if I want to keep you yet." she said with a smile.  
  
"Gee, thanks." he said. She turned around and stratled his waist. She looked him in the eyes and sighed.  
  
"I love you." she said calmly. This was the first time she had ever admited it out loud. His face lit up in a soft smile.  
  
"I love you too." he said as he kissed her. "When do we tell every one?"  
  
"Later, not now." she looked at him. "Maybe I'll just wait until I start to show, then they can guess for themselves."  
  
"I don't think I can wait that long." he said as he pulled her close again.  
  
"Impatient?"  
  
"Excited, ready to burst! All I want to do is rub it inTyr's face that I got to Father before he did. Again." he said with an evil little grin.  
  
"Childish are we?"  
  
"Well, he's bigger than I am, stronger than I am, a bigger chick magnet then I am. I've got to have something I can top him with. Now if you'd just marry me . . ." he said hopefully.  
  
"Not yet Dylan. I've just gotten used to Cass and you at the same time and now I have something else to get used to. I can't handle too much at one time." she said with a soft smile.  
  
"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere." he said as he carried her to bed.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"IT'S CHRISTMAS!! AND HE CAME! HE CAME JUST FOR ME!" Cassie yelled the next morning as she jumped out of bed and found a package with her name on it. Dylan jumped awake and wondered why Beka hadn?t as well, and he realized that she wasn't there. A slow smile spread across his face as he remembered the night before and he slowly crawled out of bed and was greated with Cassie who had wrapped herself around his legs. "He came! He really came and he brought me something!" she said excitedly.  
  
"Oh, I'm pretty sure he brought you more than one thing." he said with a smile.  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yep. But I think he left most of them under the tree in Hydroponics."  
  
"Wow." she said as she let go of him and went back to her package. "Can I open this one now?"  
  
"In a minute. Just let me find Beka."  
  
"She's in the bathroom." she said as she walked over to where she had left Rommie's picture the night before. She found an elastic and a ribbon and rolled up the picture and made Dylan put the elastic on it for her. "Will you help me put the ribbon on?"  
  
"Okay." he said as he tied it on.  
  
"Thank you!" she said with a smile as she walked into her room. Dylan heard her talking to one of the Rommies and she was simply gushing about the fact that Santa had come and left her things and left everyone things and such.  
  
"Beka?" he asked as he entered the bath room. She was just sitting on the floor against the wall.  
  
"She's not here right now, but if you'd like to leave a message with the little elf in the other room, she'll get right back to you." Dylan tried not to laugh at her as he slid down the wall to sit beside her.  
  
"So, are we waiting for the event, or recovering from it?" he asked.  
  
"Waiting." she said. "It might not come and I might just feel horrible most of the day and as much as I hate throwing up, I wish it would just happen so I can get it over with." and as soon as she had finished saying that, it happened. She was impressed, Dylan stuck by her through it and held her when it was over.  
  
"Better?" he asked quietly.  
  
"Not really." she said as she leaned heavily against him.  
  
"Here." he said as he got up and passed her her tooth brush, she took it gratefully and with in a few minutes, the two of them were back out with a very excited 5 year old.  
  
"Look Beka, he came!" she said as she came running over. Dylan scooped her up before she could barrel into Beka. "Hey!" she said as she leaned over to Beka. Beka took her and Cassie launched into the fact that she had already talked to Rommie and told her all about the packages she had found with her  
  
name on. "And I found a little black box with your name on it, but there was nothing in it."  
  
"That's becuase I opened it after you were asleep."  
  
"You're supposed to open it on Christmas!" she said with a pout.  
  
"I did. It was very, very early Christmas morning when I opened it."  
  
"Well, what was it?"  
  
"It was this." she said as she showed Cassie the ring on her finger as she sat down on the couch.  
  
"Wow!! Did Santa give it too you?"  
  
"Almost. Dylan did."  
  
"Wow! It's really pretty!" she said again. "Ummm . . . can I open mine now?" she asked.  
  
"Yes, go for it." Dylan said as she let out a cheer and slid off of Beka.  
  
The two of them watched as she ran over to the presents under the paper tree she, Harper and Trance had made everybody help make. They made every one trace they're hands, and they were glued down. Dylan didn't know how it had ended up in his quarters and not in a public area, but, hey, it was all  
  
good. He wrapped his arms around Beka as she leaned back against him. "Feel better now?"  
  
"A little. You help a lot and seeing her this excited is great." she wrapped her arms over his and laced her fingers through his. "I got you something else."  
  
"What? Two of them?"  
  
"Oh God, don't even joke about that! No, it's under the paper tree and there's another one under the real tree."  
  
"Oh good. I got you others too."  
  
"You didn't have to." she said.  
  
"I know." was his answer. They watched as Cassie spent a good 10 minutes with each present and showing it to both of them and was still amazed that there was another one to open. She brought over the gifts that "Santa" had left for Beka and Dylan and shared the excitement with them when they opened theirs. Soon, the group was on their way to the Hydroponics to open the rest of the gifts. Tyr didn't understand why he had to be there, but Cassidie's happiness was infectious and he was soon reletively eager to be there with the group. They spent the day together, the entire group, before finally going back to their seperate quarters and Tyr to the bridge with Rev. They had decided to call it quits when they found Cassie asleep in a pile of disguarded wrapping paper near the end of the party.  
  
"Have fun?" she asked Dylan as he carried Cassie.  
  
"Yes, I did and I think she did too." the small figure in his arms was clutching at a doll that Tyr had given her. It was Nietchszchean, with little bone blades and all, but she loved it the moment she saw it and it was definitely her new favorite toy. Dylan put her to bed and came back out to see Beka stretched out on the couch.  
  
"Tired?" he asked.  
  
"Kind of." she said as she sat up. Dylan led her to the bed room and slid down beside her on the bed and held out another little box to her.  
  
"Dylan . . ."  
  
"Just open it." he said. She did and found another ring.  
  
"Dylan . . ."  
  
"Wait. That was my grandmother's wedding ring. I never really planned on giving it to you like this. The first ring, well, that was planned for a while. If I thought you'd except, I'd ask now. Instead, I had another idea."  
  
"And what is that?"  
  
"You'll figure something out to do with it when you're ready."  
  
"That's it?"  
  
"Yep. Gotta KISS." he smiled at the look on her face.  
  
"Do we now?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"Okay." so she kissed him. He laughed a little harder. "What?"  
  
"KISS, Keep It Simple Stupid." he said. "Not that I minded. . ." She just laughed at him. "So, how much longer will we get to have the morning bathroom dates?"  
  
"I dunno. . . 6 weeks according to Trance. I hope to the Divine she's wrong." she said as she laid down. Dylan layed his head just above her stomach and started whispering. She smiled at him as he finally came back up. "What was that?"  
  
"Just a simple request. We'll soon find out of it worked."  
  
"You are so strange." she said as he wrapped his arms around her.  
  
"Ah, but you wouldn't have me any other way would you?"  
  
"Well, maybe if the money was good . . ." she laughed as he showed her what he thought of that and went about changing her mind. 


	4. there's always the stork, or the FTA del...

Christmas had come and gone and so had New Year's and Beka was reaching the point where she and Dylan were going to have to start telling everyone about the new arrival. Deciding that it would be a good plan to start with Cass, that's what they did.  
  
"Wow," Cassie said after they had finished. "Neat. Can I go play now?"  
  
"Uhhh . . okay." Dylan said. Cassie smiled at them as she hopped off the couch and ran to her room.  
  
"Well, that went well." Beka said with a smile as she leaned back against the couch.  
  
"I don't think she gets it." Dylan said as he looked at her.  
  
"Really? I think she completely understood." she said with a smile. "I mean, what's not to understand about the fact that in nearly a year there's gonna be another kid on the ship?" she asked rhetorically.  
  
"Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact," he smiled at her and started to make fun of her explanation of how it got there, "that it's in your tummy, but not really."  
  
"Shut up." she said as she smacked him in the arm. "I'd like to see you do better."  
  
"Come on, there's always the stork, or the FTA delivering it, or Trance found it for us . . . . Pick a good one!"  
  
"The FTA?" she laughed at him. "That's good. I really like that one. Oh well, maybe it will click with time when it becomes a little more evident." she said as she stood and absent mindedly placed a hand on her 'baby bump' as Dylan called it.  
  
"I'm still waiting for it to click!" he exclaimed from the couch. "I mean, one would think that all the time spent on the bathroom floor with you in the mornings would do it," she shot him a look for that, "but it just seems so surreal."  
  
"Trust me, it won't be so surreal at 3 in the morning." she said with a smile that quickly faded.  
  
"What's wrong?" he asked as he walked up behind her.  
  
"I kinda feel like I should try and find Rafe, to tell him, but I don't want the trouble that's going to follow him here. I mean, he's my brother and I love him, but, I don't want to have to deal with him anymore. I don't want to try and trust him, only to be hurt again." she turned around as he wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on the top of her head.  
  
"Well, how about we try and find him, tell him and give him explicit instructions NOT to come and look for you?" she sighed.  
  
"He'll come anyways. It's Rafe. It's what he does. Maybe it would be better if we didn't make an effort to tell him, but if we happen to run into him, he can find out."  
  
"Works for me." he said.  
  
"Beka?" Cassie called from her room.  
  
"Yes Kiddo?" she called back.  
  
"I'm getting hungry." she said as she came out of her room and ran over to the two of them, wrapping her arms around their legs to get in on the moment too. Dylan reached down and picked her up.  
  
"Okay, let's go see whats for dinner." he said as he held a hand out to Beka which she took and they left for the mess.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"So, what's the news?" Harper asked as she looked at the two of them. Trance already knew and she doing something in the kitchen with Cassie.  
  
"Well . . ." she stumbled. "Harper, rememeber how you told me you'd grow up if I settled down?"  
  
"Yeah." he answered hesitantly.  
  
"Well, start growing up." she said with a smile.  
  
"What, are you guys getting married?" he asked.  
  
"We kinda decided to skip a step." Dylan said. Tyr came and gave Dylan his congratulations and a little speach about how highly valued fatherhood is to Nietszcheans and Rev offered his blessing. Harper was still putting the pieces together until Rommie came over and helped him out.  
  
"Oh! I get it! Congratulations guys!" he said as every one kinda laughed at him.  
  
"For a 'freakin' genius', you sure are slow Seamus." Beka said as she walked over to him and ruffled his hair.  
  
"Ah, I just have moments." he said with a smile. "So, Beka Valentine is being domesticated. I never thought I'd see the day. Then again, I never thought I'd see the day when you replaced 'wanton sex goddess' with 'mom' . . ." she punched him in the shoulder which made him laugh even harder. Cass and Trance came back from the kitchen just in time to hear the "mom" comment. Trance just smiled but Cassidie stopped for a moment and made sure to remember the "mom" word. She'd have to ask what that was later. 


	5. An' you're just . . . . Beka!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Beka?" Cassie asked as she crawled onto her lap later that evening.  
  
"Yes?" she asked as she smiled at Cass trying to get comfortable withthis new lump disturbing her normal resting spot.  
  
"What's a mom?" she asked as she finally settled.  
  
"What?" Beka asked as she tilted Cass' chin up to look at her.  
  
"What's a mom?" she asked again.  
  
"Ah, well," Beka said as she thought about it. 'Mom' wasn't one of those words you normally had to define. "Well, a mom is some one, a woman, who well." she paused and thought about it for a moment. "Well me, I guess." she said.  
  
"But you're Beka." Cass replied.  
  
"I'm both."  
  
"But what is a mom? What does she do?"  
  
"Well, what do I do for you?" Beka asked as she looked down at her.  
  
"You play with me, an' keep me safe, an' make me feel better when I'm sad." she said. Beka smiled.  
  
"Keep going." she said.  
  
"You love me right?" Beka nodded. "An' you're just . . . . Beka." she finished.  
  
"Well, that's a mom. And a dad is kinda the same thing, but only he's a guy." She watched as Cassie thought about this.  
  
"Is Dylan like a dad?" she asked.  
  
"Yup. " Cassie thought about this for a few minutes.  
  
"Do I haveta call you mom and dad?"  
  
"Not if you don't want to. We can still be Beka and Dylan."  
  
"But don'tcha haveta be called mom and dad to be a mom and dad?" sheasked as she turn around so she could look at Beka.  
  
"No. It's kind of like a nick name, like Cassie or Beka."  
  
"But Beka's your name."  
  
"My real name is Rebeka," she said. Cassie's eye brows shot up.  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yahun. Every body calls me Beka though. It's the same as you, your name is Cassidie, but we all call you Cassie or Cass."  
  
"Tyr calls me Little One, so does Dylan some times. And Harper calls me Squirt and you call me Kiddo."  
  
"And you answer to all of them. Dylan and me will always answer you. It doesn't matter if you call us mom and dad or Beka and Dylan," she said patiently.  
  
"Oh good!" she said with a smile as she wrapped her arms around Beka's neck. "Is there really a baby in there?" she asked as she pulled back.  
  
"Yes." Beka said.  
  
"It's not very big is it?"  
  
"No. But it'll get bigger."  
  
"How big?"  
  
"Well, if you think trying to get comfortable is hard now, it's only gonna get harder." Cass frowned at this.  
  
"You mean we can't cuddle any more?"  
  
"Well, we can, we just have to change it a little." Beka stroked back some of Cassie's hair. No matter what she did with it, she couldn't get it to stay back all day.  
  
"Oh good. But I can always use Dylan too right?"  
  
"Of course silly!" she said as she started tickling Cassidie. Her laughter filled the air and Beka eventually stopped and let her catch her breath. "You know, I think I'm gonna like having two of you around."  
  
"Two of me?" she asked.  
  
"No, two kids."  
  
"Where there two of you?" Cassie asked. Beka laughed.  
  
"Well, there was only one me, but I have a brother."  
  
"A brother? Nora had a brother," she said, proud of herself that she knew what a brother was.  
  
"Yeah, his name is Rafael, but we call him Rafe." she said wtih a sigh. This Nora person Cass would talk about was a mystery. All she ever said about her was that Nora had lost her, used to take care of her and now that she had a brother. "Who's Nora?" Beka asked again.  
  
"She was the one that lost me."  
  
"But who was she? Was she a cousin? Aunt? Sister? Mom? Gramma? What?" Cassie thought about it for a moment.  
  
"I don't know," she said quietly. "Some times she was nice and other times she wasn't and sometimes she was kinda like a mom and some times she wasn't. She was just Nora." she answered. "Can we talk about something else now?" Beka knew it was time to leave this alone for a while.  
  
"Sure. What do you want to do?" she asked Cassie as she put on a smile and went along with anything the little girl suggested.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Beka! BEKA!" Dylan jumped awake and sprinted into Cassie's room.  
  
"It's okay, you're okay." he said as he gathered her in his arms.  
  
"I want Beka!" she said as the tears began to flow.  
  
"She's on the bridge," he said as he looked at the chronometre kept on the wall. "She'll be back soon," he said as he rocked her. He knew that it was a nightmare and what it had been about.  
  
"I don't care! I want Beka!" she wailled.  
  
"Come back to bed with me and we'll wait for her to come home." he said as he picked her up. "You don't have to sleep. Do you want a book or something?" He held her closer as he felt the sobs that were wracking her little body. "How about I just pick out a good one?" Dylan said as he walked over to the shelves and picked out a couple.  
  
"Why weren't you there to get me?" she asked.  
  
"What?" Dylan asked quietly.  
  
"When Odan got me. Only Beka and Trance and Harper and Rev were there. Why not you too?" she asked as she looked up at him. Dylan sighed.  
  
"Well, Beka and me had had a fight and we weren't really talking to each other and it just kind of happened. I was there when you woke up though."  
  
"What did you fight about?"  
  
"You. The Maru, the Commonwealth, some other stuff."  
  
"Why me?"  
  
"Because I made a dumb choice and things just got messy." he finished simply.  
  
"Oh." she said as she snuggled in good and close to him, to help chase away the bad dreams. "Is it all fixed now?"  
  
"I'm pretty sure it is." he said as he let his hand start rubbing her back. The two sat in silence until the gentle rubbing finally lulled her back to sleep. He laid her beside him and soon joined her. 


	6. and I'm waiting with baited breath for t...

"Okay, new rule," Dylan said when he saw a tired, 4 month pregnant, Beka the next morning. She just stopped and looked at him. "You are not allowed to take any more night shifts. For some reason, she keeps asking me all the hard questions."  
  
"Oh please, let's review." she said. "I've had to convince her that Tyr isn't going to kill her on quite a few occations, explain what parents are, where her sibling is, how it got there and I'm waiting with baited breath for the 'how will it get out' question. Now what was your big trauma?" she asked him as she found the still sleeping Cassidie something to wear.  
  
"I had to explain why I wasn't there when you got her from Odan." he said quietly. She gave him a sad smile.  
  
"Okay, I now only have three up on you."  
  
"Come on, last night was worth 2."  
  
"She started crying and gave you that look didn't she?" she asked.  
  
"Yes and she wouldn't stop asking for you."  
  
"Ah, that's becuase I'm her hero. You're just some guy that hangs around," she said with a smile.  
  
"What ever," he said as he walked into their room to wake her up. With in five seconds she was in Beka's arms, pouring out all her nightmares and telling her how mean Dylan was becuase he wouldn't let her go and see Beka. Beka just smiled at him and picked Cassie up and started to reasure her as she got her dressed and ready for the day.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"What's all of this for?" Cassie asked Trance as the two of them were decorating the obs deck.  
  
"Harpers birthday is soon." she answered.  
  
"Oh." she answered. "Is every one gonna be here?"  
  
"I don't know. I think everyone's going to try to be here."  
  
"Even Tyr?" she asked, doubting that the Nietszchean would show up.  
  
"Oh, Tyr will surprise you. It's what he does." Trance answered as the two of them kept decorating.  
  
"When's Beka's birthday?"  
  
"Not for a long time."  
  
"And Dylan's?"  
  
"We celebrated his birthday before Christmas." Trance answered.  
  
"Oh yeah. What about you and Tyr and Rommie?"  
  
"Well, I don't know about Tyr. Mines a secret and I don't think we've ever had Rommie's birthday." Cassie thought about this. The fact that Cassie hadn't asked when they were going to celebrate hers wasn't lost on Trance.  
  
"We should give Rommie a party. Everyone should get a party." she said with a smile.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Harper's party had been a success and everyone had had fun. Tyr popped in simply to get something to eat, but before he left, he pulled Harper over and told him something. A smile lit up his face and a "Thanks Big Guy!" was heard in the room. Cassie had quizzed Rommie on when her birthday was and they decided that they needed to have two for her, one for when she was first brought on line and one for when her Avatar came on line. Cassie seemed satisfied with that and went to ask Trance to tell her hers. When that failed, she asked Harper, Rev and Beka if they knew. They didn't and she announced to Trance that she was being mean by not telling and that she wasn't going to share any more secrets with her. Trance, to save her self, then whispered something to her and made her promise not to tell. Cassie immediately took back all that she had said and started beaming again. The party ended much to Cassidie's dismay, when Harper declared Happy Hour. Beka told Dylan to stay and enjoy it while he could and she, Cassie and Rev left.  
  
"I wanna stay for Happy Hour!" Cassie announced.  
  
"No you don't."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Because all they're going to do is drink and make fun of each other for a while." Beka explained as they made their way to the Eureka Maru for a while.  
  
"Can I fly us some where?" she asked when they got on the Maru.  
  
"Maru, activate programme: childproof."  
  
"Programme active."  
  
"Go ahead. Where are we going?" she asked as Cass made Beka strap her in.  
  
"Ummmmmm . . . . . . Starlight Drift!" she said as she started moving the controllers.  
  
"Okay. I'm just gonna be down the way. Tell me when we get there, okay Captain Valentine?" she asked. "Okay!" 


	7. I want there to be a guaranteed happy ho...

A few hours later, Dylan came onto the Maru to find both Beka and Cassie.  
  
"Hello?" he called out.  
  
"Be quiet if you want to see tomorrow." was his reply. He smiled and walked into Beka?s quarters to find her watching a news flexie and Cassie, sound asleep, curled up on Beka with a possesive hand on what had become, "her baby", shortly after Beka had reached her 6th month.  
  
"It's early," he said.  
  
"Ah, piloting slip stream really wears you out."  
  
"Ahhhh . . .and where did the two captain Valentines go?"  
  
"Umm . . . Starlight, Winnipeg and El Dee." she said.  
  
"You guys were busy. Did you buy me anything?" he asked as he sat down.  
  
"Nope. We converted heathens to the Way and we saved starving and dying people with the little money we had that never seemed to run out."  
  
"Well, at least you were using it for good."  
  
"Then we went and avenged Tyr's pride, liberated Earth, defeated the Magog and declared a never ending happy hour."  
  
"Happy hour was whose idea?"  
  
"Mine. I want there to be a guaranteed happy hour when I'm wearing the vacancy sign again." she said with a yawn.  
  
"Are we staying here tonight?" he asked as he removed Cassidie from her.  
  
"Nah, the bed just isn't comfy any more. Let's go before I fall asleep here." she said as he helped her up.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"And just where is this little get together going to be held?" Beka asked Dylan a few weeks later.  
  
"Here, on the Andromeda, by invitation only. Tyr and Rommie will deal with security." he said as he searched for a missing sock under the toys that had accumulated in his quarters. "Ummm, about the mess . . ."  
  
"I know, we'll clean it after she get's up from her nap, same as always. Here." she said as she reached behind her and pulled out his sock.  
  
"How did you . . ." he asked as he took it and put it on.  
  
"Just a little something that seems to have appeared, about the same time Junior did."  
  
"Interesting."  
  
"I'll say. I've found things ont he Maru that I thought I'd lost forever!" He just laughed. "Am I seriously barred from slipstream piloting?" she asked him.  
  
"Rommie." he called.  
  
"Beka, you're just about 26 weeks pregnant. Slipstream piloting at this point in time could push you into early labour. If we were in the old Commonwealth, finding a medical station capable of treating and stopping early labour would be easy to find. Out here, we might not find one. No slip piloting. The only time I will budge on this is if everyone, including my main AI are incapacitated and I highly doubt that will happen anytime soon." she tacked on the end. Beka just made a face and sunk a little farther into the couch.  
  
"I know, I know, I suck." he said as he came back into he room.  
  
"And?"  
  
"I'm never touching you again, excetra, excetra." he said as moved around the room. "Bye, have fun." he said as he kissed her good bye and left for command. Beka just groaned at him and thought of a few things she'd like to say to him. Her mind slowly drifted back to the "party" as he had called it. Translation: We're having a diplomatic reception for a new Commonwealth inductee. She shuddered at the thought of what happened at the last one, They had lost Cassidie and her and her crew had almost left for good.  
  
"Maybe I'll just tie her to me this time." she thought out loud. Then again, they were going to be on their own turf this time. And it would be a smaller group of people. . . maybe it wouldn?t be so bad. Beka sighed and got up to check on Cassie. She had been a little off all morning, clingy, like she was when Beka got back from supply runs, and whiney and just generally not the happy go lucky kid she usually was. She brushed some hair out of the way and noticed she was warm. "Rommie, is she okay?"  
  
"Her temperature is slightly elevated, as is her white blood cell count. Her symptoms are characteristic to some one who is fighting off a viral infection in the early stages."  
  
"She's sick in other words."  
  
"It's just a mild flu. I'll send Harper to the med bay. You two should join him." Beka sighed as she hoisted Cassie out of bed.  
  
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" she asked as they went to med bay.  
  
"I was monitoring her. I was going to alert you if she got worse.: Rommie answered.  
  
"Thanks. I think." The rest of the walk was silent as they made their way to the med bay. "Hey Harper, Trance." she said as she entered.  
  
"So, it's her fault I'm here." he said.  
  
"Yeah, you now have a friend to swamp germs with. Lucky us." she said as Cassie was laid on a bed.  
  
"You're fine now Harper. If you feel anything . . ."  
  
"I know, I know, come see you. Thanks my Purple Princess." he said as he hopped off the bed and left the room.  
  
"And as for you," she said as she came over to Beka and Cassie and scanned Cassie, "You definitly have the flu. Has her disposition changed?"  
  
"She's been acting like she does after I get back from being away, whining about everything, just not really Cassie."  
  
"She'll be like that for a few more days." Trance gave her a shot. "That will help with the fever and hopefully keep the nausea away."  
  
"Ew." Beka said as she made a face. "Dylan can deal with that. He has six weeks to catch up on until I start helping him again." Both women laughed. "Ok, so I guess it's home to bed again." she said as she turned to pick her up. "Hi kiddo." she said softly as she walked over to her.  
  
"Why are we here?" she asked quietly.  
  
"You're sick, we had to check on you."  
  
"Oh, I'm okay." she said.  
  
"Well, that's because you got a shot to make you feel better. It's back to bed with lots to drink for you. I don't want to have to worry about you and the baby and Harper. You and the baby are enough," she said as she picked her up.  
  
"No, I'm really okay, I'm not sick." she said as she started to get aggitated.  
  
"And why aren't you sick?" she asked as they started on their way back to their quarters.  
  
"I'm just not." she said as she tried to stay awake.  
  
"Oh. Ok." she said. The rest of the journey was spent in silence and when they did get back to their quarters, Cass was promptly put in a pair of real pj's and was put in the "big bed" as she called it. Beka found what was left of the juice in their quarters and got a couple of glasses and slid in beside Cass. "We'll just hang out here today." she said.  
  
"Okay." Cassie said with a nod and a yawn. 3 glasses of juice later, Cass was asleep and Beka was watching a flexie in the other room.  
  
"Hey." Dylan said as he slid into their quarters.  
  
"Hey." she said as she moved over on the couch.  
  
"She's still asleep?"  
  
"Caught the flu. Probably that thing Harper had last month."  
  
"Charming."  
  
"Yup, 'specially since you're on nausea duty." she said with a smile.  
  
"Why me?"  
  
"I put up with it for 6 weeks. You owe me that much." she said simply. He sighed.  
  
"Is there anything I can do to even us out right now?" he asked.  
  
"Well . . ." she said as she turned with her back towards him. He smiled and put his hands to work, mostly on that one spot on her lower back. "You know, this is almost, ALMOST enough to make me want to do this again." she knew that had put a smile on his face.  
  
"Well then," he said as he started to do it a little harder. "What about this?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm still at the almost. I'd like to see the product before I agree to manufacture a second one."  
  
"Always the business women hun?"  
  
"Better believe it bub." 


	8. Last time you had a feeling, I lost the ...

Sorry it took so long, to get the next few parts up. Real life sucks and it kinda got in the way.  
  
Cassie  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Beka awoke in the middle of the night. She didn't really know why, so as she lay in the silence and comfort of a warm pair of arms, she finally heard it.  
  
"Wha?" Dylan asked sleepily as she elbowed him awake and holo Rommie appeared.  
  
"I suggest you check on Cassidie."  
  
"He was on his way." Beka said as he got out of bed.  
  
"Anything in perticular I'm looking for?"  
  
"Look out for the mess. A trip to the med bay is advised in the morning." Rommie said as she winked out of existance.  
  
"Mess? Oh yuck." Beka said, knowing that mess translated into Cass threw up. She got out of bed as well. "You get the bedding, I'll take her." she said. When they got into the room, Cass started crying even harder.  
  
"Hey, it's okay." Dylan said as he balled up the dirty blankets and Beka found fresh clothes.  
  
"Come on," she said as she took her into the bath room. "How do you feel?"  
  
"Hot. And my tummy hurts." she said with a sniffle. "Do I still haveta go and do stuff tomorrow?" she asked as she was stripped and placed in the tub for a quick rinse.  
  
"Of course not!" Beka, a little surprised she would ask such a thing. "You and me are gonna camp out in the big bed again after we see Trance." Beka lifted her out and dressed her again and Cass did nothing but cling to her the whole time.  
  
"I don't wanna go back to bed." she mumbled as the tears started again.  
  
"You'll stay with us anyways." Beka said as she carried her to bed. "Dylan can sleep on the couch if he doesn't like it." she said. Beka tucked the two of them in. "Just, warn us if you have to throw up again ok?" Cassie just nodded and didn't let go of Beka.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Being a parent was so much more fun before she got sick." Beka said to Trance the next morning. She had gotten up with Cass twice during the night.  
  
"Think of it as practice." Trance said as she gave Cass another shot and got a few ready for Beka to take with her. "The blue one every four hours to get rid of the fever and the red one if she throws up  
  
again. If it happens more than twice in an hour, bring her back. Other than that, bed rest and plenty of fluids." Trance said. "She has done pretty well though. With all the things Harper brings back with him, I'm really impressed that this is the first time she's really ever been sick."  
  
"That is a good point. Oh well, see ya later, much later I hope." she said.  
  
"Beka?" came a little voice.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"I don't wanna be sick any more."  
  
"I know. I don't want you to be sick any more either." she said. The rest of the trip back was spent in silence. "How about a drink, then a bath, then a show?" she asked.  
  
"I'm not thristy." she said. Beka put her on the couch, got a drink anyways.  
  
"Drink it anyways." she said as she put the lid on tight and handed it to her. Cass was none to happy about the lids that were now being put on her cups, but Beka was. She would forget every once and a  
  
while when she was well. When she was sick, it was horrible. The lids saved everybody time, plus, she could carry the drink around with her. Like to the tub, where she was promptly placed. The fever relievers Trance would give worked, but took a while to kick in. They worked faster and longer if you helped them along. Soon the two were back in bed and only left when they absolutely had to.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"I feel horrible."  
  
"Oh, please tell me you're not getting sick too." Dylan said to Beka. Cass had been well for about a month and he was not eager to repeat the experience, especially since that little get together was coming  
  
up quickly now.  
  
"No. I'm just tired and sore. Your kid won't let me get comfortable anymore." she complained. Junior had been a little slow in the growth department, but had soon caught up when month seven rolled around. The most common complaint now heard was that she missed her ankles, her slip chair and sleeping through the night.  
  
"Two more months." he muttered to her as he pulled her to him and placed a hand on her pregnant stomach. He felt Junior flutter around and soon calm.  
  
"Well, at least some one's going to be well rested." she said with a little chuckle. "This one is going to have more energy then Cassie when Harpers pumped her full of sugar." They both went silent for a  
  
moment then groaned. "We are so screwed." she said.  
  
"Oh well. It will be worth it." she shot him a look. "Trust me."  
  
"And how do you know?" she asked.  
  
"Just a feeling I have."  
  
"Last time you had a feeling, I lost the vacancy sign." she reminded him.  
  
"Well, you're not in danger of that happening this time are you." he said with a smile. He was rewarded with the smack of a pillow for that one. 


	9. Hey! It's a giant bathtub!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
A few days later, the group was seated around a table in one of the conference rooms the Monaiens had provided for the signing.  
  
"Same deal as always, you're all to be on your BEST BEHAVIOUR." he emphasized as he looked under the table at Cassie and Harper, who was crouched in front of his chair. He smiled sheepishly and sat in his chair. Cassie frowned, her game interrupted, but crawled into her chair too. "The only thing that's really different is that, while the Monaiens are around, Beka is not a Valentine, she's a Hunt and so is  
  
Cassie."  
  
"Why?" Harper asked.  
  
"Women who are pregnant out side of a marriage need special permission to keep the unborn child. Children born out of wedlock are unheard of on this planet unless granted permisson, something very  
  
hard to get. Even women who are pregnant and loose their husbands must seek out permission from the government." Rommie finished.  
  
"Mrs. Hunt it is." Harper said. Beka shot him a look. Trance smiply smiled at the whole exchange while Tyr and Rev made no outward signs of aproval or disaproval. The meeting lasted a few more minutes  
  
before every one was dismissed and went on their way to enjoy shore leave.  
  
"You seem pretty happy about all of this." Beka said as they left the building.  
  
"Of course! I get to do this." he said as he took the ring of her right hand and put it on her left. "Marry me?"  
  
"Looks like I already did." she said as she looked at her left hand and ran her right over her stomach. Dylan just smile and took Cassie's hand.  
  
"Hey! It's a giant bathtub!" she exclaimed and pointed to the ocean.  
  
Beka and Dylan laughed. He picked her up so she could see better.  
  
"It's not a giant bathtub. That's the ocean."  
  
"Ocean?"  
  
"Yup. Lots of things live in the ocean. Fish, whales, plants, other things. Just don't drink the water."  
  
"Why? There's lots of it."  
  
"It taste bad. It's salt water." he explained.  
  
"Ooooohhhh." she said. "Can we go and play in it?" They walked a little further and found a beach with a few people at it already.  
  
"We'll go later. Right now, we have to find you something to wear."  
  
"Why? I like this dress." she said as she looked down at the yellow sun dress she had on, her hair in two braids down her back.  
  
"Well, so do I. We just need something a little fancier for the party." her face fell.  
  
"You're not gonna lose me again are you? Then make a dumb choice and let things get messy are you?"  
  
"Of course not! There are going to be less people there and it's going to be on the Andromeda and Rommie will be able to keep an eye on you all the time." Cassie sighed.  
  
"Oh good. I don't want to be losted again."  
  
"We don't want that either." he said as they walked a little longer before finding Rommie waiting for them. She had insisted on approving the dress herself. Cassie went with her eagerly and Beka and Dylan  
  
were shooed away to go and do something else.  
  
"I will never understand those two." she said.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"She thinks Rommie is her best friend, well, next to Harper, and Rommie will do anything for her. I can't count the number of times I've asked Rommie to check on her and report back, only to have her  
  
not come back because they started to play a game."  
  
"Well, Rommie is learning about being human and who better to learn from the a child who's learning as well?" he asked.  
  
"I guess you're right. Just as long as it's not Harper. He might try and introduce Rommie to playing Dr." she said as they both shared a laugh over that.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 


	10. I place their lives above mine already

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Beka, we're going to be late." Dylan called.  
  
"Well, then we're just going to be late. Nothing fits anymore." she complained. Dylan came into the room and scaned her closet.  
  
"Here." he said as he pulled a couple of things out. "You'll look fine in either of these." He watched as she stared at the outfits then sighed. "You know, I'm not the best person to be askng about this. I think you look beautiful in anything you wear."  
  
"You have to say that." she mumbled.  
  
"Well, no. I could break your heart, but I don't feel like ruining both our lives. Ever. I'm happy with what ever you look like. As Tyr would be quick to point out, you're giving me the best gift any woman could give some one. You're loaning your body to a small person for the first nine months of it's life and then you're going to bring it into the world. I couldn't ask you for anything else."  
  
"Honey dripper." she said a she wipped a tear from her eye.  
  
"Better believe it." he said as he swept her into his arms and kissed her.  
  
"Wear the blue one." he whispered. "I'll round up the tornado." he said as he left the room. Beka sighed, composed her self and slipped into the blue one, swept her hair up in a loose twist on the top of her head and touched up her make up. She slip in to Cassie's room and braided her hair then ran a  
  
scanner over her.  
  
"The nano bots are high enough to track her now."  
  
"Oh good."  
  
"My arm still hurts." she said with a glare. She hadn't been pleased when they had injected her.  
  
"Hey, this way we can keep track of you, just about anywhere. The pain was well worth it." Dylan said. "Come on, we still have a chance at getting there on time." he said. As they walked to the observation deck, well, Cassie skipped ahead of them, Dylan reached behind Beka and lightly pressed  
  
his hand to the small of her back.  
  
"Thank you." she said quietly.  
  
"See, I am getting good at this fatherhood thing." he said with a smile.  
  
"Ah, don't get too pleased with yourself." she whispered in return as they entered the room. The crew of the Andromeda smiled as Cassie came to an abrupt halt in front of a royal gaurd that towered over her and turned tail and ran straight behind Dylan. He bent down and swung her up on to his hip.  
  
"King Midean, welcome to the Andromeda Ascendant." he said.  
  
"Captain Hunt, my family and gaurd are honoured to be here." he said with a smile. "You're little one is quite the runner."  
  
"That she is. She keeps all of us busy." he said with a smile.  
  
"And your wife. It's a good thing we're both married or I would make it my mission for the night to steal her away from you." Beka just smiled at his compliment and let him take her hand. "Take care of your second. They know, even before they see the world, if they are loved or not."  
  
"I place their lives above mine already." Dylan said. Beka didn't say anything but remembered what he had said and had begun to let it run around her mind, where it would stay, for the rest of the evening. 


	11. When? What ever happened to if?

Author's Notes: Okay, I'm dedicating this part to Erin and Jen,my two hard core supporters and real life muses!  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"I liked this party lots more then the first one." Cassie said as she had a quiet, before bed, moment with Beka.  
  
"So did I." she said as she stroked back some of Cassie's hair.  
  
"How many more sleeps until the baby comes?" Cassie asked.  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Becuase babies are funny that way. They come when they're good and ready too."  
  
"Oh." was all she said as she ran her little hand over Beka's stomach then giggled when she felt it move.  
  
"You know, I think it likes you already."  
  
"Oh good. I don't want it to hate me."  
  
"I don't understand how anyone could hate you." she said quietly.  
  
"No one hates me, do they?" Cassidie asked quietly.  
  
"Well, no one hates you. It's just that some people didn't realize what a wonderful person you are and how lucky they were to have you."  
  
"Like who?"  
  
"Well, the man we got you from and Nora." she said.  
  
"Well, I'm glad you found me." she said.  
  
"You know, so am I."  
  
"Beka, are you gonna get rid of me when the baby gets here?"  
  
"Of course not! Things might get a little crazy around here and we might not have as much time to spend with you, but we'd never get rid of you. I'll tell you what. You and me, we'll have time when it's just you and me. No Dylan and no baby. Sound good?"  
  
"Yeah. But what happens if you forget?"  
  
"Then remind me. No matter what, I'll never be too busy for you, ok?"  
  
"Okay!" she said with a smile, all worry about being rejected gone. Cassie's little world was back in order, as it should be, once again. "Are we gonna call it baby for ever?"  
  
"No, we'll pick out a name. Eventually. Any ideas?"  
  
"Well, is it a boy or a girl?"  
  
"I dunno. We need to pick out names for both I guess."  
  
"What happens if we like more than one name?"  
  
"Then we'll make one a middle name."  
  
"Middle name?"  
  
"Yeah. Lots of people have middle names."  
  
"What's Dylan's?"  
  
"Uh, Dylan?"  
  
"Yeah?" he called from the other room.  
  
"What's your middle name?"  
  
"My middle name? Mikah. Why?" he asked, a litle puzzeled.  
  
"Just wondering." she called back. "See, Dylan's is Mikah."  
  
"What's yours?"  
  
"Lynnea."  
  
"What's mine?"  
  
"Well, I don't think I ever gave you one. I was worried about you being okay and we needed something to call you other than kid, so all you ended up with was one. Would you like a middle name?"  
  
"I think I would." she said.  
  
"Well, who should pick it? You, me, Dylan, all of us?" Cassie thought about  
  
this for a moment.  
  
"You and Dylan!" she said.  
  
"Okay. We'll tell you when we have one for you, okay?"  
  
"Okay!"  
  
"Okay!" Beka said as she gave her a tickle, then looked at the time. "Okay, time for all little girls to go to bed."  
  
"Can't I just stay up a litle longer?"  
  
"Sorry kiddo. You've already stayed up later then normal. Go get Dylan and a story and do your thing." she said.  
  
"Okay. Good night Beka." she said as she gave her a kiss. "Good night baby, who ever you are!" she said as Beka's stomach got a kiss too then she slid of the bed and the next thing Beka heard was "Oof!" and she smiled. Cassie did it every night, you'd think he'd have figured this out by now. If he wasn't already ready for her, she took a flying leap onto him. Half an hour later, he slowly made his way into their room and just kinda collapsed on the bed.  
  
"She wants a middle name." Beka said immediately.  
  
"What?"  
  
"A middle name."  
  
"Okay." he said.  
  
"She wants us to pick one for her."  
  
"Okay."  
  
"Any suggestions?"  
  
"Okay." Beka started laughing and he just kind looked at her. "Hun?"  
  
"I asked you for suggestions and you just went 'okay.'."  
  
"Suggestions for what?"  
  
"Cassie wants a middle name and she wants us to pick it."  
  
"We haven't been able to decide on any for Junior here and she wants us to  
  
pick one for her too?"  
  
"I think that's why Rommie gave us this." Beka said as she pulled out a name book. She handed it to Dylan and he opened a random page.  
  
"Morgan. King Arthur's half sister was named Morgan." he read, skipping over the name origins.  
  
"Cassidie Morgan Valentine." Beka said.  
  
"Cassidie Morgan Hunt." Dylan replied.  
  
"Cassidie Morgan Valentine-Hunt." Beka countered. Dylan started laughing.  
  
"What?"  
  
"That name is bigger than she is!"  
  
"Who says I'll give up my name when we get married?"  
  
"When? What ever happened to if?"  
  
"Well, I was thinking."  
  
"Uh oh." he said with a smile as she smacked him with a free pillow.  
  
"Pretending to be married to you wasn't all that bad, so, maybe if it was official, it wouldn't be much different."  
  
"Does this mean . . . ?"  
  
"I guess so." she said with a small smile as she leaned closer to him.  
  
"Cool." was all he said as a smile spread across his face.  
  
"Cool? That's all you have to say?"  
  
"I love you? You're the best? What would I do with out you? I've couldn't be happier?"  
  
"There ya go."  
  
"Thank you." he said. 


	12. Rev said he was gonna stay here an' medi...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Can we go and play in the . . . the . . ." Cassie tried to remember the word she was looking for. "The big bath tub?"  
  
"Big bath tub?" Dylan asked as they played with her blocks, Beka was still asleep, her new favorite pass time.  
  
"You know, the one on the planet with all the fishes."  
  
"Oh, the ocean."  
  
"Yeah. Can we?" she asked as she looked up at him.  
  
"I dunno, I think so." he said as we watched her knock down her tower and start again. "We'll have to wait and see."  
  
"Wait and see what?"  
  
"Well, what every one else wants to do."  
  
"Oh." she thought about things for a moment. "I need to go and see Trance and Harper. Right now." she said as she jumped up.  
  
"About what?" he asked.  
  
"Stuff. Can I?"  
  
"Yeah, okay." he said as she ran out to find them, still in her pyjamas.  
  
"Rommie," he called out, "look out for her."  
  
"Always Dylan." was his reply. He just chuckled as he got up, stretched and then walked back to the bed room and slid into bed.  
  
"Hey." Beka said.  
  
"You're up." he said as he got comfortable.  
  
"Oh yeah. Where was she off too?"  
  
"To convince Trance and Harper they want to go play in the ocean with her."  
  
Beka laughed.  
  
"Like that will be hard. Harper's been on about surfing here and Trance wants to study some of the sea life."  
  
"Well, I guess we're hanging out on the beach today." Dylan said.  
  
"I hope she doesn't expect me to get in the water and further then my knees." Beka said absently.  
  
"I'll give you a good push."  
  
"You wouldn't! Would you?"  
  
"No. It sounded like a good idea though." he said. She could feel his smile against her neck.  
  
"Damn."  
  
"What?!" he said as he sat up. "What's wrong?"  
  
"I just got comfortable and I have to pee. Again." she said with a sigh. "I hate you." she mumbled as she pulled herself out of bed. He just sighed as she left the room.  
  
"It's fine that you almost gave me a coronary. Feel free to do it again." he mumbled.  
  
"Okay, I will." she said as she got back into bed.  
  
"Do I get a warning?"  
  
"No, I think I'll try and make in in the middle of the night."  
  
"I hate you and you suck." he said, using her new favorite things to say to him. She just laughed as wrapped her arms around his waist again.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"THEY SAID YES!" Cassie cried as she came barrelling back into their quarters. Dylan and Beka jumped awake and prepared for the hurricane of energy that was about to jump on them. "Trance and Harper said they'd come and play with me in the water! Can we go now? Please?" she begged as she jumped on the bed and sat on Dylan.  
  
"What about Tyr, Rev and Rommie?" he asked. Cassie went quiet for a moment.  
  
"Oh yeah! Rev said he was gonna stay here an' medicate an' Tyr wanted to do some scaring and I don't know what Rommie wants to do." she said.  
  
"Medicate and scaring?" Dylan asked.  
  
"Meditate and sparing." Beka translated.  
  
"Oh. That's good stuff to do." he said with a nod of the head. "Well Miss Cassidie Hunt, I think we may be able to go today."  
  
"YEA!" she yelled out.  
  
"Guess what we have for you." Beka said.  
  
"What?"  
  
"A middle name."  
  
"Oh boy!"  
  
"Yep, you are now Cassidie Morgan." Dylan said.  
  
"Am I gonna be a Valentine again when we leave the planet?" she asked.  
  
"Well, only for a while."  
  
"Why?" she asked as the two proceeded to share their news with her. "What's married?" she asked and with a smile and sigh, the two tried to explain marriage to a five year old. Fortunately, it went over better then the "how did the baby get there?" conversation. 


	13. The top secret, let's get a snack, missi...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Come on Squirt." Harper said as he picked up Cassie and brought her into the water with him.  
  
"It's cold!" she said when he put her down in it.  
  
"You'll get used to it." he said as he led her out a little farther than Beka would have liked and he knew it. The two played for quite a while before Harper said, "Here, we'll go for a ride." as he slipped her into a floatation device and sat her on his surfboard. Harper hoped on it and started to paddle aroud. "Should we go in for a while?" he asked when he noticed her shivering.  
  
"N-n-no-o-o." she chattered. "I st-t-il want t-t-oo play."  
  
"Just to warm up a bit. You can watch me make a fool of myself for a while."  
  
"O-o-o-k-k." she said as she let Harper bring her in.  
  
"Here Mother Hunt." he said with a smile as he handed a cold and wet Cassie to Beka, who promptly wrapped her up in towel and held her close.  
  
"Yeah, I'll 'Mother Hunt' you one." she mumbled to him as he laughed and ran back to the water.  
  
"When's Dylan gonna be here." she asked as she snuggled into the warm embrace.  
  
"When he's done."  
  
"When will he be done?"  
  
"When ever they're all done." Beka said with a smile at the look on Cassie's face.  
  
"When are you coming in?" she asked.  
  
"I don't think I'm going to. I'm not much of a water person." she said.  
  
"Oh. Why not?"  
  
"Because I didn't grow up on a planet I guess. I just don't like the cold, or hot or water or weather. I like starships where I can't splat.'  
  
"Splat?" she asked, a little more then confussed.  
  
"Splat. You'll understand later." she said as Cassie got up and wandered to th bag Harper had given her. She slowly started taking things out and soon had the bag emptied.  
  
"What do I do with all this stuff?" she asked.  
  
"You make sand castles of course." Trance answered.  
  
"How?"  
  
"Come on." Trance said as she gathered some of the stuff and took Cassie's hand.  
  
"Wait." she said as she ran back to Beka for a pair of shorts and a shirt.  
  
"Okay. I'm ready now." she said.  
  
"Well, here's how it works. . ."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"How long until we can go back to the water?" Cassie asked a few weeks later.  
  
"It'll be a while. Maybe we'll find another beach on a different planet." Dylan said as he sat in the slip chair with Cassie on his lap. Trance, Harper, Tyr and Rev were on a supply mission and Beka had threatened to deny him the "joys of the flesh" if he didn't take Cassie with him somewhere, anywhere, for a while. So, the two of them were in command right now.  
  
"Why can't we just stay on a planet all the time?"  
  
"Because the Commonwealth isn't back yet." he said.  
  
"How many more planets until it's back?"  
  
"25, 30 planets. I don't really remember."  
  
"We're never gonna live on a planet are we?" she asked with a pout on her face.  
  
"Not permanently, no." Cassie flopped back against him for a while as she watched Rommie and Dylan play a game on the computer screens.  
  
"When's Harper getting back?" she asked to either of them.  
  
"Not for one more day." Rommie replied.  
  
"I'm bored." she announced. This was the first time the 5 year old had ever made this proclamation since coming on the ship.  
  
"Oh no! Not that!" Dylan said as he tickled her. "Come on, let's go on a mission." he said as he got out of the slip chair.  
  
"What kind of mission?"  
  
"The top secret, let's get a snack, mission." he said as he took his hand. Cassie just laughed. "What?"  
  
"You're silly."  
  
"No I'm not."  
  
"Yes you are. Even Beka says you're silly."  
  
"Well, we'll just have to do something about that won't we!" he said as he picked her up and swung her around as they made their way to the mess. 


	14. Aislynne Julianna and Benjamin Mikah

"Feel better?" Dylan asked later that night as he came back to their quarters alone. Cassie was spending some time with Rommie.  
  
"Sort of. I slept most of the time." she said as she pulled herself into a siting possion on the couch. "So glad there's only one more month of this."  
  
"I can't believe we only have a month to pick out a name." he said as he sat down next to her.  
  
"I was thinking about that. I'll bend to Benjamin as a first name if you give into Aislynne as a first name." she said as she looked at him. He thought about it for a moment.  
  
"Okay. Now all it needs is a middle name." he said.  
  
"How about Mikah." she said absently.  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Well, neither of us wants a Jr., but I thought that would be kind of sweet, something to pass down." she watched as a smile spread across his face.  
  
"I think that's a good plan. We can go Aislynne Lynnea if you want."  
  
"That's okay. I was always telling dad to leave 'Rebeka Lynnea' out of something, so I wanna stick with that. No Lynnea's."  
  
"Okay. how about . . ." he thought about things for a moment. "Julianna."  
  
"Aislynne Julianna and Benjamin Mikah. I can live with those." she said with a nod. He let out a breath he had been holding. They both knew that those were the names they were going to pick in the first place, but being Beka Valentine and Dylan Hunt, they just couldn?t give into each other right away. That would be too easy!  
  
"Rommie," Dylan called out.  
  
"Yes?" she responded as her hologram popped into view.  
  
"Is there a betting pool on baby names?"  
  
"Of course there is! Harper started it the day you anounced the pregnancy." The two smiled.  
  
"What names are on it?" Beka asked. Rommie proceeded to rattle off a bunch of names. Aislynne and Benjamin were on it, though not with the right middle names. In fact, Mikah wasn't on the list at all.  
  
"Well, I guess Harper and Tyr get partial points as do you and Trance." Beka said with a laugh. "I'd  
  
reallky like to know who put Bertha and Agatha on the list."  
  
"Trance did. Simply because Bertha becomes Bertie and Agatha becomes Aggie."  
  
"Interesting. I wouldn't have minded Evelyn." Dylan said.  
  
"Why?" asked Beka, a little bit of a disgusted look on her face.  
  
"Evy." he said.  
  
"Oh, that's kinda cute." she said.  
  
"I hate to interrupt, but Cassie has fallen asleep while playing with my avatar. Should I leave her there, or have a droid bring her home?"  
  
"Leave her there." Beka said. "Bring her back if something happens."  
  
"Alright." she said as she blinked out of existence.  
  
"She told me she was bored today and then said you said I was silly." Beka started laughing.  
  
"Well you are. I had a few other names I wanted to call you, but she's a little young for them." Beka said with a smile.  
  
"You little. . ."  
  
"Little what? Come on, I dare ya!" she said with a smile as she got up and started to move towards the bedroom.  
  
"You little, vixen! Maniac! Incredibly . . ." he searched for the right word.  
  
"Smart? Beautiful?" she paused. "In pain."  
  
"What?" he rushed over to her. "Rommie!" he called out. She appeared and stayed silent for a moment.  
  
"That was a contraction. I'm sending a message to Trance to try and hurry up. You're only at 3 cm, but better safe then sorry. I suggest you get comfortable, it may be a while."  
  
"How long is a while?" Dylan asked.  
  
"On average, first labour lasts 15 hours."  
  
"15?!?!" Beka got out. "Oh, you SO suck pal!" she said as she sat down on the floor.  
  
"I'll be back later, but I'll monitor you constantly." Rommie said with a smile as she disappeared.  
  
"Wait!" Beka called out, Rommie re-appeared. "It's early. Will everything be ok?"  
  
"It'll be fine. The baby might be closer to 5 pounds then 7 when it's born, but it will be fine. Relax, enjoy what little time you have left as being parents to one." she said as she blinked out.  
  
"Right."  
  
"Right what?"  
  
"We are parents aren't we?" he thought about it for a moment. The two of them had known this for a while, but a formal title had never been placed on them.  
  
"Yeah, we are and this time, we'll be there for the event." 


	15. We are never, in a million years, doing ...

"Incoming message. . . Incoming message . . . Incoming mess. . ." the Maru shut off when Harper activated the comm system.  
"Trance, you've got mail!" he called as he got out of the pilots seat.  
"Oh boy!" she said as she slid into the pilots chair and listened to the message.  
"So, did you win a million thrones?" Harper asked.  
"No, but we need to get back to the Andromeda and quick." she said with a smile.  
"Why? What's wrong?"  
"Baby Hunt is on it's way!" she said as she got out of the seat. Harper got a silly smile on his face.  
"Well, let's go! I do think Dylan, Rommie and Beka could do this on their own, but let's not take any chances. Go tell the others." he said as he got strapped in. "Brace for slip stream!" he said a few minutes later. And to think, he was just about to run the idea of a detour to a good surfing planet by every one. This was a million times better.  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"You know, I think I've had an epiphany." Beka said after the end of the latest contraction.  
"And that is?" Dylan asked while shaking the feeling back into his hand.  
"We are never, in a million years, doing this again."  
"Okay." he said. To keep his hand from being broken, he'd say anything at this moment.  
"I mean that." she said as she shifted into a more comfortable position.  
"Okay." she shot him a look. "I know! I understand!" he covered quickly.  
"Why do I get the feeling you're going to do everything in your power to change my mind?"  
"Because that's what I'm here to do. Change peoples minds. I think I did pretty well already with you." he said with a smile.  
"And what makes you say that?"  
"Well, let's start with this." he said in reference to the pregnancy. "You're engaged to me, living with me, taking care of a 5 year old who is soon to be six. You're still looking out for Trance, Harper and Rev. Should I keep going?"  
"No. That's fine. I'm convinced." she said.p  
"The Eureka Maru is on it's way back." Rommie announced.  
"How far out is it?" Dylan asked.  
"At least 3 slip jumps. They'll be here in about 4 hours." she responded. "Don't worry, if things keep going like they are, you'll still have lots of time."  
"It's been two hours." Beka commented, sounding less then impressed.  
"And you're progressing nicely. Another hour and you should be at 4." Beka got the "you're kidding me right?" look on her face.  
"It takes three hours for a centimetre?"  
"It'll go faster once you hit 5. I would suggest drugs at this point in time, but not without Trance here. Sorry." The hologram said with a small smile. "Cassidie is also awake. She's asking to go home, should I send her?"  
"Why not! She'll find out sooner or later." Beka said as she got up, with help, and headed to a comfy chair.  
"She's on her way." Rommie said as she blinked out of the room. A few minutes later, Cassie had barreled into Dylan and was quickly spilling her day out to him.  
"And we coloured and had a snack and then we watched some of Harper's vids and we wrote them a letter too, but they have to read it when they get back and." Dylan cut her off.  
"Take a breath."   
She laughed and then started again."And we practiced writin' and I did my name and everybody's names, but I left the flexie there. I can get it later right? Hey, why are you still in pyjamas?" she asked Beka. Dylan covered for her as she made her way through a contraction.   
"We're having a bit of a pyjama day."  
"Why?" she asked as she still looked at Beka. Her little mind knew something was up, but didn't know what.  
"The baby's coming." Her eyes got wide.  
"It can't come yet! It doesn't have a name!"  
"We got it names. It's either going to be Aislynne Julianna or Benjamin Mikah."  
"Hey, Mikah's your name! You can't give it away."  
"I'm not giving it away, I'm lending it out."  
"Ooh. Okay. Can I wear my pyjama's?" she asked. He laughed and put her down.   
"Go ahead." he watched as she ran into her room before he went over to Beka. "Sorry."  
"It's okay. I really liked that drugs idea though." she said as she leaned into him.   
"I know. Only two more hours."  
"And 7 cm." she added under her breath.  
"Can we play a game?" Cassie asked from her room.  
"Which one?"  
"This one." she called, not showing which one it was. The two of them laughed. She came out a few minutes later with her shirt on backwards and the game. "This one."  
"Okay." Dylan said.  
"Come here." said Beka. Dylan took the game from her while Beka turned the shirt around. "Better?"  
"Yeah. Thanks. Are you gonna play too?"  
"I'll try." she said. She needed something to pass the time. She  
commandeered Dylan as her personal lounger while she was at it.  
  
Several contractions and two games later, Cassie made a proclamation. "I'm hungry." was all she said as she looked at the two. 


	16. It'll make me feel better and that's all...

"I've got twenty thrones that say it's a girl," Harper announced to Trance. Trance just laughed. "What?"  
  
"Harper, you don't have any thrones. Besides, you already owe me close to 20 million thrones," Trance countered.  
  
Harper stared at her reflection in the cockpit window. "A minor detail, my purple princess. When I win the bet, I'll owe you close to 20 million thrones minus 20!" he said with a smile.  
  
"Boy, you will never win a bet with her, so I suggest you stop now," Tyr called from the other room.  
  
"Sure thing, Big Guy!" he called. "I will win against you," he muttered.  
  
"That's good Harper, never give up." Trance said as she left the cockpit with a smile on her face. She already knew if Harper was right or wrong, but she had no plans of telling him the answer any time soon.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"AHHHHHHHH!"  
  
"Calm down, don't forget to breath."  
  
"You breathe! I'll yell. Ahh!"  
  
"Yeah. Don't think that's gonna work well."  
  
"It'll make me feel better and that's all that matters, you jerk!"  
  
"Okay, I'll breathe, you yell."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"How much longer?" Cassie asked. She had been packed off to stay with Rommie until the Maru got back.  
  
"Still a while."  
  
"How long's a while?"  
  
"It won't be here before you go to sleep tonight. It will probably be tomorrow afternoon, maybe in the morning."  
  
"Why does it take so long?" Rommie had to think about this for a minute. Figuring out how to simplify 'it takes time for a cervix to dilate' took a little effort, even if your brain was the size of a planet.  
  
"Well, things have got to relax and stretch and the baby has to get in the right spot."  
  
"Right spot?"  
  
"Yup. Head has to be down and the face has to be facing the spine."  
  
Cass thought about this for a minute. "You mean it's gonna get here with its head on backwards?" she said, a horrified look on her face.  
  
"No, I mean the face has to be facing Beka's spine. It's all very complicated."  
  
Cass sighed. "Oh good. I didn't want to find out how it got its head back on the right way. That would have been kinda bad."  
  
"Yes, it would have." Rommie said as images of babies with heads on backwards floated through her processor. She shook them out and returned to Cassie. "What should we do now?"  
  
"How will it get here?" Cassie asked, not quite finished with the biology lesson yet. Rommiesighed.  
  
"Come on." she said as she got up.  
  
"Where are we going?" Cassie asked as she eagerly followed.  
  
"There's a vid around here somewhere. I know there is." she mumbled as she led her to the med. deck. "Yup, here it is. Sit down and watch this." Rommie said as she set it up. She now understood why Beka and Dylan had had such a hard time explaining to Cassidie how conception worked. Then again, the simplifying part might not have been hard for them, it might have been the modesty issue involved. 


	17. If you do not stop that incessant pacing...

"Magog, what are you doing now?" Tyr asked as he watched Rev move across the messhall again. "I know that you are not searching for something to eat, so sit down and stop fidgiting." he finished as he turned back to his book.  
  
"I truly am sorry. Perhaps I should find some where else to work out my excitement."  
  
"Perhaps you should." Tyr said.  
  
"I think I shall." he said as he left.  
  
"Good riddance." Tyr mumbled under his breath as he tried to read again. Truth be told, Tyr was just as excited about the birth as the others were, he just hid it better. It had been many years, far more than he cared to count, since he had welcomed a new life into the world. He would never admit this to any of the crew, but he had come to consider the Andromeda a defacto pride. He knew one day he would have his own pride, but for now, the crew of the Andromeda, even the ship herself, would do. Tyr allowed himself a small, giddy, laugh before he turned back to his book.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Under Rommie's advice and Beka's insistance, pain killers had been administered. After 5 hours, she had threatened to do it herself, so Rommie had taken pity on them and she was now asleep. Dylan, on the  
  
other hand, was a nervous wreck. Now that he no longer had anything to do, he began to pace the ship aimlessly. He knew that he could go and check on Cass, but he didn't want to be bombarded with questions at the moment. He simply wanted the Maru to come home. He knew that they were an hour out, so that made things easier, but he still wished they'd get here faster, simply because he didn't want to rely on medical information from a ship and deliver his own child, if it came to that. Which it wasn't, he reminded himself again. "Everything is going to be fine. It's all going to work the way it's supposed to. I know it will. It has to." he mumbled to himself as he continued to roam the ship's corridors.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Harper had been kicked out of Command on the Maru and was now alternating between tinkering and pacing. He knew he had been kicked out because of the whole medical confidentiality thing, but he still  
  
wanted to know what was going on with Beka. He desperately wanted to know what was going on. Was she okay? What about Cass and Dylan? He wanted know how much longer it was going to be before they got back to the Andromeda and how long it would be until Hunt Jr. was here.  
  
"If you do not stop that incessant pacing, I'm going to blow you and the Magog out an air lock." Tyr said from behind his book.  
  
"Sorry Big Guy." he muttered as he sat down at the table and started tinkering again. Tyr sighed and put his book down.  
  
"They will all be fine and you will be there in time for the birth. Stop worrying."  
  
"I know, it's just, well, Beka's the closest I have to real family. I don't want to let her down." 


	18. They'll both be fine, don't worry

"Finally!" Dylan exclaimed as he was told that the Maru was docking. He paced in front of the doors until they opened after the Maru had safely docked. Trance simply smiled at Dylan as she bounded off the ship and headed to medical. Rev came next, followed closely by Tyr and Harper finally exited.  
  
"How is she?" he asked.  
  
"Tired and sore. She's ready for it to be over and so am I." Dylan said as the two walked to medical. "I just want it in my arms, safe and sound." he said as he gestured with his hands.  
  
"They'll both be fine, don't worry." Harper said with a smile. "So, where's Squirt?"  
  
"With Rommie. I'm not quite sure what they're doing."  
  
"We, well, rather she, is having a bath." Rommie's hologram replied.  
  
"She's been asking about you, Beka, the baby and when will the others be back."  
  
"I'll go check on her for you." Harper said as he turned to leave.  
  
"Oh, Dylan?"  
  
"Yeah Harper?"  
  
"Good luck! Don't screw it up Old Man!" he said as he took off in a jog. Dylan just smiled and shook his head as he continued into medical.  
  
"You're up." he said softly as he noticed Beka waking up and Trance looking over scans and getting a few things ready.  
  
"Long time no see." she said softly as he pulled a chair over and sat beside her for a moment, before joining her on the bed so she could lean against him and get into a more comfortable position.  
  
"Looks like we got here just in time." Trance said. "Congratulations, you're at 7 cm." Beka sighed as a contented smile apeared on her face.  
  
"I love drugs, even more now then before."  
  
"They wore off about half an hour ago." Trance said. "A jump from 4 to 7 is very impressive."  
  
"Yeah well, I like to show off." she said weakly as a contraction hit. Trance monitored it.  
  
"They all seem to be strong, so I'm not going to give you any drugs to make them stronger. I'd say we have an hour, at the most, and we're there!" she said happily.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 


	19. Alexandria, when she was ready, tore her...

"Aren'tcha gonna braid it?" Cassie asked as she hopped up on the bed.  
  
"I wasn't planning on it. Do you want me to?" Rommie asked as she got a brush and a couple of hair ties.  
  
"Beka always does."  
  
"Alright then, come here." Rommie said with a smile as she quickly worked the wet hair into two braids. "Better?"  
  
"Yup. Thanks Rommie!" she said as she gave her a hug. Rommie picked her up and carried her out into the living room of her quarters. Rommie had decided that having her own quarters would be a good idea because of the amount of time she and Cassie spent togther. She couldn't explain why she had been drawn to the small girl, but they had just taken to each other, neither one questioning the others' choice. "Hey, you finally put it up!" Cassie exclaimed at the sight of her picture, hanging proudly on the middle of a wall, all by itself.  
  
"Sorry it took so long. I wanted to make sure it was in just the right spot."  
  
"It's perfect! Do you like it?" she asked.  
  
"I like it very much. Thank you for giving it to me." she said with a smile.  
  
"Oh good!" she said as she was put down. She immediately ran to the small collection of toys that had started live here and started playing.  
  
"Knock, knock." Harper said as he came in.  
  
"You're back!" she exclaimed as she jumped up and ran into his open arms.  
  
"Yup. Did ya have fun?" he asked as he swung her into her air.  
  
"Yeah! I did lots of stuff and you know what? The baby's comming!"  
  
"I know, that's why we came back early. Are you excited?"  
  
"YES!" she yelled out, a large smile plastered on her face. Rommie and Harper simply laughed as he put her back on the groud. She grabbed his hand and pulled him over to play with her. Rommie watched for a moment before excusing herself to check on command.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Rommie wandered slowly through the ship on her way to command. Her mind was mulling over the fact that somewhere in the galaxy, there was most likely some one waiting for a loved one's life to end at the same time that they were waiting for a new one to start. The thought was kind of perplexing to her, especially the fact that she was even thinking it. She had begun to wonder about humanity and it had blown into all out curiosity when Cassidie had arrived. She knew people were cruel to each other, she had witnessed it on numerous occasions, but the fact that some one could be so heartless to a child was beyond her. She had asked Dylan about it many times and all he would ever answer was "It doesn't matter any more. She's with us and she's safe."  
  
She had asked Rev, and he had just given her a very confusing, religious answer that didn't help her at all. She stopped her train of thought when she got to command and entered silently, observing that  
  
Tyr was in the slip chair. Rommie was sure that Tyr knew she was here, and didn't bother to anounce her presence. The silence was heavy in command until Rommie finally spoke.  
  
"Things are progressing nicely. Maybe an an hour or so left." she said quietly.  
  
"And how is Dylan holding up?" he asked, not looking up from his book.  
  
"He seems okay. He won't admit how nervous he is."  
  
"No father does." he said.  
  
"And how would you know?" Rommie asked.  
  
"Because I saw the way my father acted when he nearly lost my mother during a birth." he said, his voice giving nothing away.  
  
"Oh." was all she said. "How old were you?"  
  
"Young. Before the Kodiak were betrayed. Maybe 11." he finally put the book in his lap, but didn't look away from the main screen.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"My mother refused to tell him she was having difficulties during the birth until things got dangerous for her and the child. He stayed calm through all of it, comforting myself and my siblings, younger and older, never letting on how scared he was for her." he stopped, not saying any more. Rommie let things sit for a few minutes.  
  
"Well, what happened? Were they okay?"  
  
"They were fine in the end." he said. "Alexandria, once she was ready to do so, tore her way into the world, kicking and screaming and never looked back." Rommie sighed, knowing that things had worked out for him, at the time. "They'll all be fine. It has been a good many years since I have welcomed a life into the world instead of removing it. This will be a nice change," he said calmly as he went back to his book. 


	20. Doing what? Beka's the one who has to ha...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Arrrrrrrg!"  
  
Trance calmly glanced at the moniters as Beka made her way through another contraction.  
  
"I'd really like thoes drugs we talked about now!" Beka got out.  
  
"It's a little late for that now." Trance said calmly. "It won't be long, then you can start to push."  
  
"What if I want to start now?" she asked through her teeth.  
  
"You can. You'd tear, but you could. It wouldn't make things go any faster though." Trance said as she checked Beka. "Hmmmm . . ."  
  
"What?!?"  
  
"The baby's still high. It's strange that you've dialated this far and the baby's still high." she paused for a moment. "Oh well. Things will be fine."  
  
"How can you be so sure?" Trance just smiled at Beka.  
  
"I just am. Hang in there, it's just about over." she said as she went back to the first scan she was looking at. There was a murmur with the baby's heart. It was very common for babies to have heart murmurs before birth though, so she didn't think much of it. She just made note of it.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Isn't Dylan gonna read me a story?" Cassie asked, a little less than pleased that her routine was being disrupted.  
  
"Well, he's a little busy right now." Harper said as he helped her clean up some of the mess they had made. There were toys spread out all the way across the room.  
  
"Doing what? Beka's the one who has to have the baby." she replied.  
  
Harper held in a laugh. Beka would be proud of her for that answer. "He's just, well, I don't really know what he's doing. I've never known anyone who's having a baby before." he shrugged as they put the last of the toys away.  
  
"Oh." she said as she stood up. "Well, will you read tonight then?" she asked.  
  
"Sure why not!" he said with a smile as he watched her run off to find a book.  
  
"Okay!" she said as she got her spot on the couch.  
  
"Don't you think we should go back to your room?" he asked.  
  
"No. I'm gonna stay up 'til it get's here." she said confidently.  
  
"Oh, okay." Harper said with a shrug. He didn't really care. He had a feeling she'd fall asleep before then anyways. He sat down on the couch and started reading.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Well, whenever you're ready." Trance said.  
  
"Ready for what?" Beka asked. She was exhausted and sore and not really with it any more.  
  
"To push silly! The baby's come down and you're ready to go!" she said as went to gather a few needed pieces of equipment, like blankets.  
  
"Oh there is a Divine!" she mumbled to herself. "Hey you, yeah, you on the bed!" she called to Dylan.  
  
"What?" he asked as he sat up.  
  
"Nap time is over." she said.  
  
"Okay." he said as he stumbled over.  
  
"Look alive dad." Trance said as she walked by. "It's show time!"  
  
"Oh there is a Divine!" he muttered to himself.  
  
"Funny, that's what she said." Trance said to him with a smile. "Now Beka."  
  
"Now?" she asked.  
  
"Yes! Contractions serve a purpose other then causing pain."  
  
"Yeah," she got out through gritted teeth, "they cause more pain!"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 


	21. I would have thought they were involved ...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Rommie and Tyr had talked about a few other things while they were in command together. She looked at the screen beside her as the main AI came up.  
  
"What?"  
  
"She's pushing." Rommie smiled.  
  
"You're getting into this aren't you?"  
  
"I'm doing this purely for your benifit since you seem rather wrapped up in it." the AI replied before disapearing. Rommie smiled to herself. All of herselfs were excited about this.  
  
"What was that about?" Tyr asked as he streched.  
  
"Just a little update." she said as she turned to leave.  
  
"What about?" he asked, pretending not to be too interested.  
  
"She's pushing." she replied as she left to check on Harper and Cassie and to make sure her quarters were still in one piece.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Well isn't this a quaint little sight!" she said to herself as she walked in to find Harper and Cassie asleep on her couch. Harper was streched out on his back and Cass was streched out on him. She watched them for a moment before taking the book from Harper's hand and got a blanket to put over them. Harper woke up just as Rommie was about to turn the lights down.  
  
"What time is it?" he asked.  
  
"Late." she replied. "She convinced you she was going to stay up didn't she?"  
  
"Well, kinda. We both kinda fell asleep near the end of the book." he said as he skilfully slid Cass off of him and onto the couch as he stood up. He yawned and streched. "So all's quiet on the western front?" he asked.  
  
"Well, as long as you don't go by the med deck." she said with a smile. "Do you think we should put her to bed?"  
  
"I dunno. Do you think one of them is gonna make it to bed tonight?" Rommie went vacant as she tapped into the internal sensors in the med bay.  
  
"No." she said as she came back. "They're both pretty involved at this point."  
  
"I would have thought they were involved from the moment of conception." Harper mumbled. Rommie smiled.  
  
"She's pushing and has threatened Dylan with physical harm, several times already."  
  
"That's my Beka. Give'm hell!" he said with a laugh. They both quieted down as Cass stired on the couch.  
  
"What's going on?" she asked sleepily. Harper scooped her up quickly and started for the bed room that Rommie didn't use.  
  
"Nothing." he said quietly. "It's late." he said as he tucked her in.  
  
"Ya know what?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Dylan tells better stories." she said. He smiled.  
  
"That's because he's a dad. His stories are supposed to be better.  
  
I'm still practicing."  
  
"Yours was good though."  
  
"Oh good." he said as he turned to leave.  
  
"Harper?"  
  
"Yeah Squirt?"  
  
"You'll be a good dad."  
  
"How do you know?"  
  
"You're stories are really good, even if you're still practicin'." he smiled.  
  
"Thanks Squirt. Good night."  
  
"Night." she got out before she drifted off.  
  
"She's got a lot of insight for a 5 year old." Rommie said as he came out.  
  
"Whadda ya mean?" he asked as they sat down on the couch.  
  
"Well, you change when you're with her. You're not sarcastic, you're calmer, slower to pick a fight with some one . . you act your age when you're with her."  
  
"Scary thought hun? Seamus Zelazny Harper with kids." he said as he actually thought about it.  
  
"Not really, now that I've seen you with her." she said as she put her head on his shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder.  
  
"It's nice to know you have a little faith in me." he said as he relaxed.  
  
"I have more then a little." she whispered. 


	22. . . . a few minutes later, a small cry f...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"That's it. I quit!" she said. They, well she, had been doing all the work for the last 45 minutes and had had enough.  
  
"I think it may be a little late for that."  
  
"I don't give a damn what you think! I'm tired and sore and all I want to do is sleep!" she said.  
  
"I don't think you really want to stop." Trance said quietly. "You're so close . . . it's right there. One more push and it will be over. I promise I'll let you sleep after."  
  
"No, make him do it." she said, pointing to Dylan.  
  
"Sorry Beka, it doesn't work that way." Trance said with a soft smile. "Then again, if you'd like to try and negotiate, now would be good."  
  
"I. Hate. You!" she got out as she bore down. A few minutes later, a small cry filled the room.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Harper jumped awake shortly after Rommie did.  
  
"What?" he asked.  
  
"There's a new person here."  
  
"In the room?" he asked.  
  
"No, on the ship." she went quiet for a moment. "Something's not right with Beka though." she said.  
  
"What do you mean not right?" he said, getting worried.  
  
"She's fine physically, but there's still . . . Oh my." she said as she got up.  
  
"What?" he said as he jumped up after her.  
  
"Things have just gotten a lot more complicated. Wait here, everything will be fine." she said as she dashed out of the room and made her way to medical. Harper watched her leave and was torn between listening to Rommie and staying with Cassie, or following her to check on Beka. He sighed and slipped his shoes off and his Hawaiian shirt and slipped into the bed room.  
  
"You are one lucky kid." he whispered as he slid in next to her. "I'll keep an eye on you, no matter what happens Squirt." he watched her sleep for a moment, completely oblivious to what was going on, before he joined her. 


	23. "It could be triplets." Rommie said with...

"What is it?" Dylan asked.  
  
"A baby." Beka replied, still riding high on endorphins.  
  
"That I know." he said with a smile. Trance giggled a little.  
  
"It is a baby." she reassured Beka as she finished drying it off somewhat before placing it in Dylan's arms. "He's just fine." she said.  
  
Dylan looked from Trance to his son to Beka and back to the baby. "Hi Ben." he said as he pulled back the blankets. Beka, having been given a few minutes to collect herself, had straightened up on the bed  
  
and, after getting Dylan's attention, got a chance to view Ben for the first time as well. "Good job, mom." he said.  
  
"Good? You call that good? That was worthy of an award!" she said with a smile as he handed Ben to her. "Well, you certainly took your time getting here. I hope you enjoy it." she told the small figure in her lap. Ben looked at her for a moment with unfocused eyes before closing them and drifting off to sleep.  
  
"Trance, I need to talk to you." Rommie said as she burst in.  
  
"Why?" Trance asked.  
  
"What's wrong with Cassie?" Dylan asked.  
  
"I just need to talk to Trance. Cassie is fine. Congratulations." she said as she pulled Trance to the other side of the med bay.  
  
"Well, what's wrong?" Trance asked.  
  
"Nothing's exactly wrong, persay, but, you know that murmur you kept finding?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"It's not . . ."  
  
"Benjamin." Trance supplied.  
  
"Thanks. It's not his." Trance thought about this for a moment.  
  
"Then whose is it?" she asked.  
  
"Scan Beka again. I think I'm right, but I'm not sure."  
  
"About what?" Trance asked, becoming frustrated with the android as she looked over scans at a near by console. "Oh my." was all she said.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"What are they talking about over there?" Dylan asked as he glanced over his shoulder.  
  
"I really don't care." Beka answered as she went back to playing with Ben's feet. He stirred in his sleep, but didn't wake.  
  
"What if it's something serious?"  
  
"They would have told us by now."  
  
"What if it's about Ben?"  
  
"They would have told us by now." she answered calmly as she wrapped him up after a small whimper.  
  
"Why are you so calm about this?" he asked, getting a little agitated.  
  
Beka just looked at him and smiled. "Pain killers." she answered him. "They are a wonderful invention! I  
  
love them!" Dylan just looked at her and shook his head as he looked back over to Trance and Rommie.  
  
"Oh just go and ask them!" she said.  
  
He just gave her a 'thank you!' look as he went over to them.  
  
"So, care to share the secret?" he asked as he walked over to them.  
  
"Well," Trance said, "how well do think Beka would take it if we told her she had to go through that again?"  
  
"What do you mean 'go through it again?'" he asked cautiously.  
  
"Well . . ." Trance hesitated.  
  
"What is it Trance?" he asked, looking from her to Rommie.  
  
"It's twins." she got out.  
  
"Twins." he said calmly. "And you're just telling me this now because . . .?"  
  
"I just found out. Ben was big, he hid the other one. I thought the murmur I kept hearing was either his or an echo of Beka's heart. I never expected this!" she said as she moved behind Rommie a bit.  
  
"And what about you? Did you know about this?" he asked Rommie.  
  
"No, I didn't. I have been monitoring her since I noticed the second heartbeat. I never detected a third heart beat. It could be worse."she said.  
  
"How?" he asked, trying to figure out how to break this to Beka.  
  
"It could be triplets." Rommie said with a shrug.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 


	24. Trance has something she's like to tell ...

Beka ignored Dylan as he went to talk to Rommie and Trance. She didn't know what they were talking about and had assumed that they updating medical records and Trance was just getting Rommie to double check them. Then again, she just happy that he was here at all. There was still that underlying fear that she was going to mess things up some how, like her father had, but she knew she wouldn't. Cassie had been around for a little over a year and nothing horrible had happened to her, if you exclude the kidnapping and implant incident. She hadn't told Dylan about the fact that she had had an underlying fear that her near OD on Flash might have done something to Ben. But he was perfect, at least so far, and she couldn't haven been happier with him. He may have been wrinkled and covered in goo, but he was hers, her little legacy to the cosmos, and she had fallen in love with him the moment  
  
she saw him. The tiny fingers and toes and the blue eyes, the thin but dark blonde hair, with just a little red in it. . . She smiled at the throughts she had had about what she was going to do if he had ended up with red hair. Her final solution had been nanobots when he was 18. That way, she could avoid the multicolours during the teenaged years.  
  
"Yep, that was a good plan." she thought to herself. She smiled and looked up as the three came back over. "So, what's up?" she asked.  
  
"Trance has something she's like to tell you." Dylan volunteered.  
  
"Actually, I think Rommie would be better suited to explain it." Trance said.  
  
"But how could I take something like this away from Dylan?" Rommie said. "Come on Trance, let's give them a moment." Rommie said as the two of them walked off.  
  
"Thanks guys." he mumbled.  
  
"What is it?" she asked, getting worried now.  
  
"Yeah, uhhhh . . would you ever have considered having another kid after Ben?" She looked at him for a moment.  
  
"Well, I wasn't planning on jumping right in to trying right away." she said.  
  
"Well, what if it was already here, in a way." he said, taking Ben from her and backing away slightly.  
  
"Dylan, please, use sentences that make sence." she said.  
  
"He has a twin." he got out quickly. "The murmur Trance kept finding wasn't you or Ben, it was his hidden comrade." he watched as she absorbed this.  
  
"You mean there's two?"  
  
"Yes." he watched as she was silent for a moment.  
  
"I hate you. I really do." she said calmly. "I can't handle two of them! I can barely deal with Cassie!" she wasn't so calm any more.  
  
"It's okay," he said, "it's gonna be fine. The adults will still out number the children, 7 to 3. We're okay." He said. This wasn't good.  
  
Beka didn't know if she could handle this right now. She wasn't good with surprises like this and, truth be told, she was scared out of her mind right now.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Trance came back in the med bay slowly and quietly. Beka and Dylan were still talking about the second baby and she figured it would be a good idea not to say anything. She silently left them to their  
  
whispering as she ran a few scans. She decided against telling Beka that she was back to 5 cm. Things would just be better if she didn't know. The two looked up just as she was leaving.  
  
"How much longer?" Beka asked.  
  
"You have a bit to wait."  
  
"How long is a bit?" she asked cautiously.  
  
"Well, you're more than 4 cm, but less than 10. Does that help?" she asked. Beka made a face and groaned.  
  
"No, not really, then again, it's not like that matters anyways . . ." Trance smiled.  
  
"I'll be around. Just yell if you need anything." she said as she pulled over a bed that Harper had put together for them. She looked at it closely before deciding that the two would fit in it. At least until Harper could finish another one.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Harper? Harper are you up?" Cassie asked the next morning.  
  
"Ummm . . . I am now. I think." he said, still half asleep.  
  
"Hurry up!" she said as she crawled on top of him. She sat like that for a moment before starting to bounce a little.  
  
"Okay, I think I'm up now." he said as he put her on the bed beside him and sat up.  
  
"Well, let's go!" she said as she started pulling on his hand.  
  
"Go where?" he asked as he stood and started to follow her.  
  
"To see it! It has to be here by now!" she exclaimed.  
  
"See who?"  
  
"The baby!" she exclaimed as she started pulling harder on him, trying to make him move faster.  
  
"Right. Can we stop for coffee first?" he asked.  
  
"No! There's no time!" she said as she let go of him and started to run ahead.  
  
"I wish I was that awake." he mumbled as he ran after her. 


	25. Why do they have to look like burritos w...

"See, just like I said. Every thing is fine." Dylan said as he wrapped an arm around Beka's shoulders and gave her a kiss.

"Yeah, easy for you to say." she got out as she caught her breath, but leaned into his embrace thankfully.

"Here's number two!" Trance said with a smile as she handed over the baby. Dylan and Beka were wary of their second. It was suspiciously quiet.

"Why so quiet?" Dylan asked as he unwrapped it.

"Why do they have to look like burritos when they're wrapped up?" Beka asked absentmindedly. Dylan chuckled a little and then smiled.

"You know, I never pictured your daughter as a silent one. I mean, after Cassie, and she's not even yours . . ." he said with a smile.

"Oh good! I thought I would cry if I was out numbered by boys! I have enough problems with that on this ship!? she said with a smile as she took the baby from him. "Well, I believe we can safely say that your name is bigger than you are!"

"She'll grow into it. How could she not grow into Aislynne Julianna? It's not that long." Dylan said. "And you, Mr. Benjamin Mikah, no more secrets." he said as he picked him up.

"They don't look anything alike." Beka said.

"This is a good thing right?" he asked as he looked at the two infants.

"Yeah, it probably is." she said. "Hey, hat stays on." she said to Aislynne as she put it back on. Aislynne made a little face and pushed it off again. Beka made a face this time and put it back on. Aislynne gave off a little cry as she rubbed her arm against it until it fell off again.

"Well, she definately got your stubborn streak." he said wtih a laugh. She just gave him a look.

"It came!! It's here!" Cassie called out as she came barrelling into the room. "Hey, you lied!" she said as she stopped at the edge of the bed. "There are two! You said there was only gonna be one!"

"Funny, that's what I was told." Beka said. "Do you think you can survive with two?" she asked.

"Yeah. I think it will be okay." she replied as she tried to jump onto the bed with Beka. Dylan finally bent down and helped her get on the bed. "Well?" she asked.

"Well what?" Dylan asked.

"Who are they!" she said as she put her hands on her hips. As far as she was concerned, they should have known that answer right away!

"Oh that." Beka said with a smile. "That's Ben, and this is Aislynne."

Cassie looked at each of them for a moment.

"Wow, one of each!" she declared. "Why does Benjamin have a nick name and not Aislynne?" she asked.

"Umm . . I dunno. I guess maybe because Aislynne is harder to find a nick name for than Benjamin is." Beka answered.

"No it's not. Just call her Aise! Or Lynne!" Cassie supplied.

"Lynne is good." Dylan said. Beka shrugged.

"Lynne it is then."

"Why do they look like burritos?" Cassie asked when she stopped to take a look at them. Beka started laughing and Dylan smiled.

"Because they like to be wrapped up tight. It helps keep them warm."

"Oh." she said. Just then, Ben let out a cry. "I don't think he likes it very much." she said as she slid off the bed, with Dylan's help, to go and see Trance.

"Yeah, I think he's hungry and I'm very sure I'm lacking what he's looking for." Dylan said as he swamped babies with Beka. "Come to me, my burrito baby." she whispered to Lynne as Trance came over and she muddled through the first meal with her help.

"Ah!"

"What?" they both asked.

"He's got a grip like a swarm ship!" she exclaimed. Dylan just laughed.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it." Trance said as she went back over to Cassie.

"'Don't worry you'll get used to it'. Why do they always say that?" she asked. "What if I never get used to it?"

"You will." he said.

"How do you know?" she asked.

"I'm over three hundred years old. I know everything." he said. She just groaned in frustration.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


	26. Our sweet little Squirt is now a problem...

Well, once again Dylan was right. Everyone got used to everything, even the fact that Tyr would take one of the twins without being asked and carry them around for hours, telling them stories about everything. He still claimed that he was only using them for practice, but everyone knew better. He was glad they were here, but wasn't going to admit that. The novelty of having a brother and sister wore off for Cassie and she had settled into the new routine fairly well. She still had her moments with it, but over all, she was doing okay and the fact that she had gotten her own birthday party 6 weeks after Ben and Lynne had gotten here hadn't been too bad either. The present Cassie really wanted was to stop a planet and play in the ocean again. It had taken 6 months to find a good one, but they had and every one had gotten shore leave.p  
"You know, I don't think we're doing too bad with this." Dylan comment as he watched Cassie run around with Harper on while they were on shore leave. He quickly leaned forward and pulled Ben back onto the blanket. He remembered being thrilled when he had learned to roll over and now he wished he'd stop. Lynne, on the other hand, could care less about rolling over. She was quite happy to lay on her back and watch the world.p  
"I think you're right." she said as she played with Aislynne. She smiled and finally rolled over. The two laughed at her. "See, I told you she'd do it when she was good and ready."p  
"She's a little too much like you." he replied, as he finally picked Ben up.p  
"I like her that way. At least I don't have to claim the impulsive one." she said. She started to laugh when Dylan gave her a look.p  
"Right. You, fly by the seat of my pants, have nothing to do with impulsiveness."p  
"Yup! Nothing at all." she said as Cassie ran over and flopped into her lap. "Her, on the other hand . . ."p  
"Can they come swimming with me?" she asked as she played with Ben. Harper came over, huffing and puffing and sat down on the blanket too.p  
"She wear you out old man?" Beka asked with a smile.p  
"Nah, this is all an illusion." he said, still trying to catch his breath.p  
"When they're bigger." Dylan answered.p  
"How much bigger?"p  
"About a year, maybe more." he said as he looked at her.p  
"Hurry up and grow!" she said, a little too loud.p  
"Hey." Dylan and Beka both said at the same time. Cassie got up and marched off to the play ground with a pout on her face.p  
"Still has her moments huh?" Harper asked.p  
"She just forgets sometimes. She's so excited about them and it just runs away with her. She's still dealing with the fact that she has to share us . . ."p  
"You, you mean." Dylan cut in.p  
"Us, with two other people." she said with a look. "She has her moments where she does just need twenty minutes or so with one of us. She hasn't quite figured out how to say how she feels about things. Stomping away and pouting for a while works for her. She has a moment, then comes back and she's fine."p  
"I'll be right back." he said as he handed Ben to Harper and went to have a talk with Cass about why you couldn't throw sand.  
"This," Beka said as she looked over, "is not an 'I need a little time' moment. This is an 'I need a time out' moment."  
"I thought you gave up on that." Harper said as he made faces at Ben.p  
"Mostly. There are still times when there's nothing else to do." she watched as Dylan carried a not too happy little girl over to a bench and started to lecture her. "And then there are times when a lecture is in order." Harper watched Cass and Dylan for a moment. She had an outburst and tried to push him and he just held her on the bench for a little longer.p  
"I take it lectures aren't popular?"p  
"I was about to lose it and I was about 5 seconds away from actually hitting her and I think she realized that. She ran into her room and stayed as quiet as a mouse until Dylan got home. I felt like a monster, but after getting a quick child psych lesson from Rommie, I learned a few things."p  
"Like?"p  
"She's testing boundaries, seeing how far she can go before we snap, before she starts getting treated liked she did before we got her."p  
"Wow." Harper said, truely impressed that Beka was putting up with this. "If I had been told you'd be this calm about everything a year ago, I would have laughed to death."p  
"Gee, thanks." she said.p  
"Anytime." They looked over at Cassie and Dylan. They were now both sitting on the bench, she was still pouting, but the lecture was over.p  
"Our sweet little Squirt is now a problem child." Harper sighed and looked down at Ben, he was drifting off again.p  
"She'll grow out of it. I hope." Beka said as she glanced over at Dylan and Cass again.p  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~p 


	27. She's still there, she's just gotten los...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"So, are you ready to go back yet?" Dylan asked.  
  
"No." she said as she crossed her arms over her chest and kept pouting.  
  
"Okay." he said calmly as he sat back on the bench and closed his eyes, basking in the sun for a while. He cracked an eye open when he heard her moving around on the bench. He watched as she pulled her legs onto the bench and stuck her thumb in her mouth, a recently acquiered habbit that apeared mostly when she was tired. He moved an arm to the back of the bench and eventually started running his hand up and down her back. She slowly moved over to him and crawled into his lap, wrapping a hand around his neck and putting head on his shoulder. "Tired?" he asked.  
  
"Maybe a little." she said around her thumb.  
  
"Wanna go and see Beka?"  
  
"No." she said as she started to absently flex and unflex a finger or two on the back of his neck. She was really tired. He smiled and leaned back on the bench, still rubbing her back. He slowly got up and made his way back to the shade a few minutes later, after she had fallen asleep.  
  
"Then again," Beka said to Harper when she saw them comming back, "She has her moments, but most of them happen when she's tired. We try to be quick when they wake up at night, but a sleepy parent can only move so fast."  
  
"Light sleeper?"  
  
"Well, she's not the heaviest in the world. So, did you two work everything out?" she asked when he sat back down.  
  
"No. She clamed up and pouted until I coaxed her to sleep." he admitted.  
  
"Good job. She should nap more often." Beka said. Harper and Dylan laughed.  
  
"Okay, you can convince her of that." Dylan said. Beka made a face then turned to Aislynne.  
  
"No, I think I'll pass."  
  
"Pass what?" Trance asked as she bounded over. She and Rommie had been exploring some of the shops around the beach.  
  
"Reasoning with a six year old over the good points of taking an afternoon nap." Beka said.  
  
"Good luck." Rommie said as she sat down on a spare corner by Dylan.  
  
"Thanks. I think we're gonna need all the luck we can get." Beka said with a sigh.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Where's Cass?" Beka asked later that night after they had all gone their seperate ways. Trance and Harper had gone to a bar and she had wanted to go with them for a while, but after thinking ahead to the thought of Dylan trying to get a 6 year old and two infants ready for bed, she had decided to sacrifice the night of fun and she was now sitting on the balcony.  
  
"Talking to Ben and Lynne." he said as he came to stand beside her.  
  
"Alone?" she asked.  
  
"She's apologising to them for yelling. She does that when she thinks we're not around." Beka sighed and rubbed her hands over her face.  
  
"What?" he asked. "Why can't she be like this all the time? I mean, what ever happened to that happy little kid we had 10 months ago?" she asked.  
  
"She's still there, she's just gotten lost for a bit." he said as he pulled her close to him.  
  
"Beka?"  
  
"Yeah kiddo?" she asked.  
  
"Can we go play at the park?" she asked as she walked out to the balcony. "Please?" she added on at the end. Beka looked at Dylan.  
  
"We'll be fine. Go ahead." he said.  
  
"Okay, let's go." she said with a smile as she held out her hand to Cassie, who took it eagerly. "But if you stop listening, we're coming home and you're going to bed. OK?"  
  
"Ok." Cassie said. "Bye Dylan! Bye Ben, bye Lynne!" she said as her and Beka left the hotel room.  
  
"So, wanna tell me what happened today?" she asked as they walked down the hallway.  
  
"I just wanna play with them but they're never big enough!" she got out.  
  
"I know. Waiting is hard." Beka said as they left the building a short time later.  
  
"I didn't meant ta get mad. An' then they told me it was a game with the sand and then I got in trouble an' an' . . ." she trailed off.  
  
"I know." Beka said as she picked her up, "Things just didn't work out."  
  
"They were all bigger than me and said they'd be my friends."  
  
"Did you think it was wrong to throw the sand?"  
  
"Maybe a little." she whispered.  
  
"Then don't do it. If you think it might be wrong, don't do it or come and ask us. That way, you won't get in trouble." Beka said.  
  
"I just wanted them to like me." she whispered. Beka's heart sank.  
  
"I know. You just gotta find some people who like you without making you do bad things." she said as she gave her a hug and let her go play. So that's what this was all about. She was lonely and wanted friends of her own. Beka had always known that this day would come, that she wouldn't be satisfied hanging out with a group of adults and one that acted like he was six. It just wasn't the same. She also knew that this was one of the reasons she hadn't wanted to keep Cassie in the first place, because friends her own age were hard to find when your parents were star ship captains, always moving about, never staying anywhere for more than a few days. She kind of understood why she and Rafe were only a year apart now. They were so close they could play together, be friends. She sighed as she watched Cassie play, having quickly found a group of kids her own age to play with who were more than thrilled to her about her life in space and the fact that she had gotten a brother and a sister at the same time.  
  
"My grandaughter is the red head in the blue dress." an older woman said as she sat down next to Beka.  
  
"The little one in the yellow dress, telling all the stories." Beka said.  
  
"My name's Colleen Marshall, that's Jodi." she said.  
  
"Beka Valentine." she responded with a smile. "Cassie."  
  
"Just Cassie?"  
  
"Cassidie."  
  
"Ahhh. . . . Not very often you find the young ones with long names any more. They're all moving so fast. They're all Jen and Jess and Mike and Nick. No more Benjamin's or Alexandria's." she sighed. Beka smiled.  
  
"I have a Benjamin and an Aislynne." she confided.  
  
"Oh, how nice! Are they here?" she asked.  
  
"No, they're at home with their dad." she said. She was just about to get up and stop a fight that she saw starting when Jodi jumped to Cassie's side, took her hand and pulled her under the slide with her.  
  
"Waiting for a fight?"  
  
"She's been a little harder to handle since Ben and Lynne got here."  
  
"Ahhh . . .sibling rivalry."  
  
"Not really, she loves them with all her heart. It's just that we live on a ship and I guess with them being twins, she's decided that she needs her own friends. The adults aren't good enough any more." Beka watched as the woman took this all in and smiled.  
  
"Being the galaxie's heroes is bound to be harder on the little ones then it is on the adults." she said. Beka gave her a look.  
  
"Oh, I knew who you were from the moment you said your first name. I've been interested in Captain Hunt's mission. He's doing very well. It's nice to see some order coming to a universe that has had so much chaos for so long." she said as she patted Beka's leg. "Don't worry, your Cassie will be just fine. The friends she does make will be held closer to her heart and she will cherish them more." she said as she stood up and stretched. "And now it's time for all little ones to go home and to bed." she said as she smiled at Beka and headed towards the playground. Beka watched as she collected Jodi and she and Cassie said good bye. A few minutes later Cassie bounded over, all smiles.  
  
"Did ya have fun?" Beka asked.  
  
"Lots!! Jodi's lots of fun! I really like her! Sammy and Hallee were fun too. I dunno about Zack though. He was kinda strange, even for a boy." she said as she took Beka's hand as they walked back to the hotel. "Can we come play here tomorrow?"  
  
"Maybe if you're good we can." Beka said with a smile. This was the Cassidie she knew.  
  
"Oh, I'll be good! Jodi said she'd be here too!" 


	28. I miss Jodi

"She wants friends." Beka announced to Dylan after all the kids were asleep.  
  
"She has friends." he said as he looked at her.  
  
"Friends her own age. The whole throwing sand thing was to try and get some older kids to like her." she said as she curled up in bed. Dylan sighed and sat down beside her.  
  
"Well, what are we going to do about this? I mean, I want her to have friends, but I'm not ready to settle down on a planet. What about you?"  
  
"No, I don't think I could ever do that." she admitted. "We have to think of something. She met some girls at the park, Jodi, Hallee and Sammy. She wants to go back tomorrow to play with them again." she looked at him and he ran a hand through his hair.  
  
"Well, there's only one thing we can do. We'll stay a little longer after that, we're just going to have to take shore leave more often. Do you think the others will object?" he asked her.  
  
"Oh yeah, Harper and Trance are gonna whine and complain that we don't spend enough time in battle and that they never get to have the near death experiences any more." she said sarcastically.  
  
"Oh not more battle complaints! Tyr's already got that market cornered." he said with a smile. "What about Rev?"  
  
"Ah, you know Rev, do what ever is best for the child, what we think is right, etc. He's easy."  
  
"Okay." he said, thinking this over. "I guess our schedule just got cleared for the next few days."  
  
"Oh good." she said as she stretched out in bed. "I've had a longing for some adult company of my own." she finished as Dylan stretched out beside her.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Harper looked up from what he was working on to see Cassie poking her head into the machine shop. "Hey Squirt!" he greeted her.  
  
"Hi Harper." she said as she walked in.  
  
"What's the matter?" He asked as she placed in on the table.  
  
"I miss Jodi." she said. They had finally left the planet a week ago after spending just about two weeks on it.  
  
"Ahh." he said with a nod. "Well, do you wanna stick around with me for a while?" he asked.  
  
"Maybe for a bit." she said with a shrug. She ended up staying most of the day and Harper had managed to put a smile back on her face by the time they went to eat supper. Harper had also come up with an idea about how to give Cassie a friend. 


	29. Never fear, the Harper has a plan!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"You want to what?" Rommie asked as she talked to Harper.  
  
"Build Cassie an android. Not one like you, but, well, a kid. Someone she can play with! They could do stuff together, play, learn, it would be great!" he gushed to her. They stopped walking.  
  
"An android isn't going to solve her problems Harper."  
  
"No, I wasn't planning on it solving them. I just think it would be nice if she had a friend on board with her. This way, she can have one." Rommie looked at him, still not convinced. "Come on Rom-Doll!" he said.  
  
"Ok, let's just suppose I agree to this. If this is a child, who's going to look after it? I doubt Beka and Dylan are going to be looking to take on another child."  
  
"Never fear, the Harper has a plan. I was thinking maybe I'd keep it." he admitted.  
  
"You? Harper, no offense, but you can barely take care of your self."  
  
"Hey, I do just fine with Cassie when we're alone. She never comes back hurt or bleeding. We get along fine." he said, a little insulted by what Rommie had said. She looked at him and sighed.  
  
"Fine. I'll help you out." she admitted. A smile grew across Harper's face and he threw his arms around Rommie.  
  
"Thanks Rommie! Have I ever told you you're the greatest?"  
  
"Several times, Harper." she said with a smile. "But I never get tired of hearing it." she said as they walked towards the machine shop, Harper already telling her about his plans for the AI.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
A few weeks later, Rommie and Harper were still arguing over the AI's appearance.  
  
"She should be shorter." Rommie commented as she looked at the specs.  
  
"She's 6 cm taller then Cassie." Harper made a face. "Rommie, most kids are taller than Cass. She's short and that's all there is to it." he said. Rommie sighed.  
  
"Fine. I want blue eyes though." she said.  
  
"Fine. I get the red hair then." Harper said. Rommie looked at him. Red hair was not something on her list. Then again, maybe if she gave in on the red hair, she could name it.  
  
"Fine. What about skin tone?" she asked.  
  
"I was thinking a little lighter then you, but darker then me." he said a he pulled up the pigment colour.  
  
"That's good. I like that."  
  
"Now, the big question. Do we pick a gender or let your main AI randomly pick?"  
  
"Make it a girl. Cassie is six, she'll naturally take to a girl as shown on the planet."  
  
"A little girl it is." he said as he put in the finally data and pulled the picture up on the screen. "Good?"  
  
"She's beautiful." Rommie said as she took the flexi from him and looked at her a little closer.  
  
"So, what are we gonna call her?"  
  
"I was thinking about Neleh (Neleah)" Rommie said. She watched as Harper cracked a crooked smile.  
  
"I like that." he said as he looked at the picture again. "Well, let's get started." he said as he started to rummage through containers to find what he needed to start building.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"What are they always doing in there?" Beka asked Dylan one night. Cassie was off with Tyr doing something and she was currently helping Ben stand. Lynne was crawling around, babbling to herself while she played with the toys spread out on the floor.  
  
"I have no idea. Rommie's being completely tight mouthed on the subject and Harper just grins like an idiot and avoids the question." he said as he accepted a toy from Lynne. "Thank you." he said to her. She smiled and pulled herself to a standing position with the help of his leg.  
  
"They are up to something. They have to be! Harper's banned Cassie from the machine shop." she said as Ben started bouncing up and down.  
  
"Maybe he just doesn't want her touching what he's working on." Dylan supplied.  
  
"But he's always let her in, no matter what he's doing. And if it's not safe for her, he works on it in the Maru."  
  
"I dunno. Maybe he's decided it's easier to work on the Andromeda." he said as he looked over at her. "Ow. Hey." he looked down at the small child who was currently munching on his finger. He picked her up and made her smile. "Congratulations kiddo, you're getting a tooth." he said as he looked at the small white lump that was coming in and the red mark on his finger. Beka just laughed at him. "Yeah, just wait until it's your turn." he said with a smile. She was still nursing them. The smile quickly fell off her face and she looked at Aislynne.  
  
"No biting. None at all. I will not hesitate to cut you off cold turkey if you start biting." Aislynne simply laughed and reached for her outstretched finger. Beka shook her head and put Ben on the floor who promptly went after the toys and took Aislynne from Dylan. "Yeah, and being cute won't change things." she said. Aislynne just laughed at her again. "Well, maybe it will. Just a little though."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 


	30. Well, are you ready to become a parent?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Well, what do you think?" Harper asked as he and Rommie glanced over the newly completed body.  
  
"Very nice Harper. Good job." she said with a smile. "The freckles were a nice touch."  
  
"I thought they were too." he said with a smile. "Well, are you ready to become a parent?" he asked.  
  
"She's not my child. If anything, she's yours." she said.  
  
"Hey, you help enough with her to be able to claim the title of parent." he said. He watched as she took it all in. "So, you ready mom?"  
  
"As I'll ever be dad." she said with smile. They had had her main AI put together a random personality that was part Harper, part Rommie and part something else.  
  
"Here we go." he said as he took a breath and began downloading the personality in. They waited anxiously for a few minutes for the download to finish and for Neleh to find consciousness and wake up.  
  
"Come on kiddo." he mumbled as they walked over to the table to look over her. Just as Harper was about to run a diagnostic, she opened her eyes. Rommie and Harper just laughed and smiled at her. "Welcome to the Andromeda, Neleh." he said. She sat up and looked at both Harper and Rommie.  
  
"Hi." she said.  
  
"Oh, the first words are always the cutest!" Harper smerked quite pleased with himself. Rommie gave him a look.  
  
"Are you all there?" Rommie asked her.  
  
"I. . . I think so." she said as she looked around the machine shop. "You're my mom aren't you?" she asked.  
  
"Well, uh . .I guess so. I'm also Rommie." she said, a little flustered. Neleh turned to Harper.  
  
"Are you dad?" she asked.  
  
"Yup, at your service." he said with a smile. She returned the smile. They were exactly the same Rommie noted. "What's the matter?" he asked her.  
  
"I'm a little cold." she said.  
  
"Right, that's what I forgot." he said. "I'll be right back!" he said as he ran out of the machine shop. He had forgotten to bring clothes with him. He had picked some things up at the last drift they had stopped at. Rommie watched him leave then went to the cot Harper kept in the machine shop and got a blanket.  
  
"Here, this will do until he gets back." Rommie said as she wrapped it around her and lifted her off the table with the intention of putting her on the ground. She changed her mind once Neleh was in her arms. She enjoyed the feeling of holding the life she had helped create. Even if it was an AI like her.  
  
"Where are we?" she asked.  
  
"In the machine shop, and the Andromeda."  
  
"The Andromeda?" she asked slowly, stumbling over the big word.  
  
"A ship, well, me." she said. Neleh got a confused look on her face.  
  
"I am the Andromeda Ascendant, or at least one incarnation. I'm the ship's AI. There's also a holographic version and the main AI that stays in the computer core."  
  
"Oh." she said. "You're back!" she said as Harper came back in.  
  
"I am and I brought you this. As charming as you look in that blanket, I think you'll like this better." he said as he held out a white shirt and a pair of blue overalls.  
  
"Oh boy!" she said as she slipped out of Rommie's arms and took the stuff from Harper. "Umm . . . how does it work?" she asked. Rommie smiled as Harper jumped right in, helping her get dressed. She may be an AI, but she still needed to be taught things at least once and then it would still take practice. Harper had done a great job.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"There is a reason we're here. Right?" Beka asked Dylan as the others filed into the room.  
  
"Well, Rommie gathered us here, I guess there has to be one." he said. Aislynne let out a cry and they traded children. Cassie bounded into the room a few minutes later and Tyr followed closely behind. Rev and Trance entered the room and Rommie came in a few minutes later.  
  
"Well, as you know, Harper and I have been working on something in the machine shop for the last few weeks." she started. Dylan and Tyr both noticed that she was wringing her hands nervously behind her back.  
  
"Well, this is what we've been working on." she said as Harper came in, Neleh following closely behind him. "This is Neleh." she said. She smiled as Harper peeled her off of his leg and she immediately went to her side.  
  
"Wow." said Cassie as she slid out of her chair and went over to her while the others were still getting over the shock. "I'm Cassie." she said.  
  
"Neleh."  
  
"Wanna go play something?"  
  
"Ummmmm . . ." she said as she looked at Rommie.  
  
"Go ahead."  
  
"Okay." she said as Cassie took her hand and led her out of the room. Harper just smiled.  
  
"Okay." Dylan said. "Where did she come from and why didn't I know about her?" he asked.  
  
"She's an AI." Harper supplied. "We built her for Cassie, so she could have a friend on the ship."  
  
"We didn't tell you because we wanted it to be a surprise." Rommie said. "She's interactive and will grow as Cassie does." Beka smiled.  
  
"I think she's wonderful." Beka said.  
  
"So do I! She's adorable!" Trance put in.  
  
"She is a good solution to the problem." Rev added. Tyr looked indifferent on the subject and Dylan still wasn't convinced.  
  
"And who exactly is she going to stay with?"  
  
"Me." Harper said.  
  
"And me." Rommie added. Dylan sighed.  
  
"Fine. She's your responsibility. Don't let her get into too much trouble." he said.  
  
"Thanks Dylan." Rommie and Harper both said. Everyone left the room soon after.  
  
"Do you think this is wise?" Tyr asked Dylan a few minutes later.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Allowing Cassidie to become emotionally bonded to an AI?"  
  
"Tyr, it's a little late for that. She's 'emotionally bonded' to Rommie already." he said as he tossed Ben in the air.  
  
"Then do you think it's wise for the ship and the boy to have made a child?"  
  
"Yeah, I don't remember consulting you when Aislynne and Benjamin were created." he countered. Tyr growled softly.  
  
"I will not be held responsible for keeping another AI safe." he said.  
  
"Tyr, she may be an AI, but she has the strength, coordination, vocabulary and intelligence of a 6 year old. She is a child." Dylan said. Tyr grumbled something and stalked off. Dylan smiled and looked at Ben. "I think they're going to get along just fine." He smiled in response.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 


	31. Yeah, you don't count you as one of the ...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
After having taken a quick tour of command, Dylan and Ben returned to their quarters. Ben happily went to the floor and started playing as Dylan walked over to Beka and sat down on the couch beside her. He rubbed Aislynne's leg as she nursed. "They're still playing I see." he said.  
  
"Yes, and they're both quite happy with each other. Harper's having a ball with them too." He smiled. Maybe Harper and Rommie having a kid wouldn't be such a bad thing after all.  
  
"It's early." he commented as he watched Lynne's eyelids start to droop.  
  
"She didn't nap this afternoon."  
  
"Ahhhhh . . ." he said. That meant she'd sleep now and be up late tonight. "I think I liked it better when their schedules were a little more together."  
  
"I'm glad they don't insist on doing everything at the same time any more thank you very much." Beka said. He chuckled softly and picked up the little guy pulling on his leg. "I know," Beka said as she looked at him and offered a finger. "You're next." she said. Ben gave a whimper and layed his head down on Dylan's shoulder. By the time Ben had decided he had waited enough, Aislynne was still fighting sleep and Dylan began scrambling to find a pacifier for Ben. He sighed as he kept looking. Some times they were tripping over them and other times they couldn't find any. Just as he was about to give up, he found one, hidden under the covers in Aislynne's crib.  
  
"I know it's pink. Ignore it, just this once." he said. The silence that followed was immediate and Dylan and Ben both breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"I'll take that, thank you." Beka said as she plucked the pacifier from Ben's mouth and stuck it in Aislynne's. She let out a little sigh and sucked on it contentedly in her sleep. They traded kids and she  
  
settled down for round two. He smiled as he layed Lynne down and the first thing she did was stretch and spred out as much as she could. He brushed strawberry blonde fuzz off her forehead and covered her before leaving the room.  
  
"One down, two to go." he said as he sat back down beside her. "Hey, that's what I was looking for." he said as Ben handed him the blue pacifier.  
  
"Yeah well, Aislynne had three at one point. One in each hand and one in her mouth. Where they all ended up, I dunno, but this is the one she came to me with."  
  
"They are so your kids." he said.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"They're both little scavengers." he said with a smile.  
  
"That was bad." she said with a smile. "Yeah, he's crazy. Stick with me kid, we'll do fine." she said to Ben.  
  
"Ha. Ha." he said as he flicked on a news feed.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Well, that's two down, one to go." she said as he took the now sleeping child from her. Ben curled himself into a ball when he was layed down and didn't even flinch when the blanket was pulled over  
  
him. Dylan shook his head at the two and walked back out to the living room to find Beka laying on the couch.  
  
"Yeah, you don't count you as one of the three." he said.  
  
"Shhhhh . . Beka's sleeping." she said.  
  
"Oh. Ok." he said as he grabbed a blanket and put it over her. He sat down on the floor in front of the couch. She shifted and wrapped an arm around his neck and the two stayed like that for a while, in contented silence.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 


	32. Okay, no more Dr. Suess for you

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Ben was the first one to wake up in the Hunt quarters. He rubbed his eyes, found the pacifier he had lost while sleeping and had a stretch. He waited in silence for a few minutes, waiting for some one to come and find him and when that didn't happen, he let out an insistant little cry. He smiled as Dylan stumbled in a few mintues later and checked on Aislynne first then picked him up. "Come on," he said after a diaper change, "Let's go check on your sister and Neleh." he said as they walked out of the room and headed to the hydroponics bay. He laughed at the scene that greeted him. The two girls were chasing wildly after his basketball and trying to get it in the basket, giggling and shrieking with excitement everytime it went in or missed.  
  
Every once and a while, Harper would scoop up whoever had it and let them get in a decent shot. Harper then got the ball and played keep away from them until the two stuck their heads together and came up with a plan. They finally ran at him and knocked him to the ground and tickled him until he was out of breath before they stood up. Cassie spotted him on one of the benches and ran over.  
  
"Did ya see? We got him!" she said as she came to a stop in front of him.  
  
"I did. Good job. Tyr will be proud of you."  
  
"Of course he will! That's where I learned that from!" she exclaimed as she ran back over to Neleh and Harper came over, out of breath.  
  
"Explain to me how you do this with three." he asked as he sat down.  
  
"Very skillfully." Dylan replied with a laugh. "I don't know, you just get used to it." he said.  
  
"Where's Beka and Thing 2?" he asked.  
  
"Okay, no more Dr. Suess for you." Dylan said. "Sleeping. Aislynne wouldn't nap and I don't know why Beka took a nap. I guess it was because she had an opportunity too. It's not often the two of them will fall asleep any more. They'll over lap for about 20 minutes usually."  
  
"So glad I got mine when she'll sleep through the night." Harper said.  
  
"Don't be so sure." Dylan said.  
  
"She will. Mine comes with an 'off' switch." Harper said with a smile. Dylan just gave him a look. "Sucks to be you." Harper said with a little nod.  
  
"Dylan!"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"I'm thirsty." Cass yelled from the other side of the court.  
  
"Me too." said Neleh.  
  
"Well, let's go find something to drink." Harper said as he jumped up off the bench and ran to the girls.  
  
"Can she drink?" Dylan asked.  
  
"Yup. And eat. So can Rommie if she wants to." he said, quite proud of himself.  
  
"Wow." was all Dylan said.  
  
"Hey, didn't I ever tell you I am a freakin' genius?" Harper asked with a smile.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ "Beka?"  
  
"What?" she asked as she sat up on the couch and was greeted by the holoRommie.  
  
"Cassie would like to know if you're going to be joining them for dinner."  
  
"Yeah, I'll be right there." she said as Rommie blinked out of existance and she stood to get Aislynne. She had to be up after 2 hours. She usually slept no more then an hour and a half at a time.  
  
"And why aren't you up?" she quietly asked the still sleeping form in the crib. Beka sighed and dug up one of the carriers they used on the planets and put Aislynne in it and made her way to the mess deck.  
  
"Finally! I thought I was gonna starve!" Cassie said with a smile as Beka walked in.  
  
"I'll starve you one." she said with a smile as she poked Cassie and put Lynne on the floor. "Yes, she's still asleep." she said to Dylan  
  
"He's not." he said as Ben smacked a spoon against the tray of his high chair and smiled from ear to ear.  
  
"Yes, I hear that." she said with a smile.  
  
"I thought we should have something fun tonight." Trance said as she and Rommie sat down.  
  
"Spazgetties!" Cassie called out in excitement as the droid brought it out.  
  
"Spazgetties?" Neleh asked.  
  
"It's big noodles with red stuff and cheese and meaty balls."  
  
"Tomato sauce and meat balls." Dylan corrected.  
  
"That's what I said." Cass answered as she looked at him. "Don't worry, you'll like it."  
  
"Ok." Neleh said, still not too sure about this. After a few bites, she tugged on Harper's sleeve.  
  
"Yeah kiddo?"  
  
"I don't like the red stuff." she said quietly.  
  
"That's okay, that's why you only got a little. Eat the spagetti with out the sauce on it then."  
  
"Can I have more cheesey stuff?" she asked.  
  
"More cheesey stuff." he said as he put more on.  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"Seamus Harper, you're as bad as she is." Beka said as she looked from Cassie's face to his. They were both covered in sauce.  
  
"What?" Cassie and Harper asked at the same time.  
  
"Boy, you look like a child." Tyr said.  
  
"What can I say, I'm a kid a heart." he said with a shrug as Rommie threw him a napkin. Everyone groaned at the bad joke. A few minutes later, all the faces were wiped and the hands clean and the kids were off playing again. "You and Harper did a really good job with her." Beka told Rommie after every one had scattered. She and Rommie had been left with the kids.  
  
"Thank you." she said.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"The entire purpose of her was to be a friend for Cassie and I think she may have become more then a project for me." Beka smiled.  
  
"What's so bad about that?"  
  
"I'm preocupied now, there's always something nagging at the back of my head that I can't get rid of and she hasn't even been here for a day."  
  
"Don't worry, that fades. It doesn't go away, but it fades."  
  
"I don't think Tyr is happy with her."  
  
"When is Tyr ever happy?"  
  
"Good point. He does enjoy Cassidie though."  
  
"Yeah, but it took time for them to warm up to each other. Him and Neleh will warm up to each other. Tyr won't admit it, but he enjoys having the kids around. Reminds him of his pride before it was  
  
destroyed." Rommie looked at her. "Hey, I know more than he thinks I do. Trust me on this." Beka said with a smile.  
  
"I think I will Beka." Rommie said as she sat back and watch Neleh and Cassie play. She smiled to herself at the fact that she had created a life. 


	33. So maybe I decided you're not Rom-Doll a...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Shouldn't she be hooked up to a recharging unit?" Rommie asked as she and Harper left Neleh's room that night after putting her to bed.  
  
"She doesn't need it. I've had some time to refine the original plans I used to make you and I've modified her power cells to recharge while she sleeps. She will need a recharging unit, but probably only once a month, maybe less." he finished as he sat down on the couch and leaned his head back.  
  
"Tired?" she asked as she sat down next to him.  
  
"Man, I though Cass had a lot of energy, but put the two of them together and watch them feed off of each other. It's just wild." he said, keeping his eyes closed. Rommie chuckled softly and snuggled up to him, he instictively put an arm around her shoulder, pulling her close. They had been spending a lot of time together lately and it had deepened the friendship that already had. They were a lot more comfortable with and around each other and it showed. They had already gotten looks from Dylan and Tyr about it, but it didn't really faze them.  
  
"Harper?"  
  
"Yeah Rommie?"  
  
"How do you think of Neleh?" she asked without looking at him.  
  
"What?" he asked as he looked down at her.  
  
"I mean, is she just something you made, or is she something more to you?"  
  
"Uhh . . .well . . .On some level she?ll always be something I created, but on a deeper level, I think she's something more."  
  
"You think?"  
  
"Well, she hasn't even been around for 24 hours. I mean, the whole calling me dad thing pulls at my heart strings, but I'm just not sure yet. I'm certain she will become something more, but for now, she's Neleh and I like having her around." he said. "Why all the questions?"  
  
"I was just wondering." she said quietly.  
  
"Rommie what is it?" she stayed silent for a moment.  
  
"I think I love her already." she got out. "I mean, I just look at her and feel a connection. I can't explain it. That's not wrong is it?" she asked him.  
  
"Nah, just don't tell Dylan or Tyr. You know, I had wondered if she'd affect you more. I mean, she's an AI. You're not the only one any more, you have some one to pass experiences down to, stories, stuff like that. I mean, we did essentially create a child. Maybe not in the traditional way, but we did. Let's just hope our weeks of careless flinging aren't going to be regreted." he said, the last part was very melodramatic. She laughed at him. "What?"  
  
"You're funny Seamus." she said.  
  
"Woah, you called me Seamus. Am I in trouble for something I don't know about?" he asked her.  
  
"No. It just didn't feel like a Harper moment, more like a Seamus moment." He chuckled at her.  
  
"You can be kinda funny some times, you know that Rommie?"  
  
"Yes. I've also noticed how I'm not Rom-Doll to you any more. Why not?" she asked. She didn't really enjoy Rom-Doll, but it had started to grow on her. She was starting to find it cute when Harper said it.  
  
"So maybe I decided you're not Rom-Doll any more." he said as he looked down at her.  
  
"Why not?" she asked, a little scared that something was wrong. Harper studied her face for a moment and went for it. The kiss was long, slow and gentle, giving her the chance to push away from him, smack him and storm out of the room. When she didn't resist and started to get into it, he wrapped his arms a little tighter around her. He was breathless by the time they pulled apart and they both looked at each other for another moment.  
  
"That's why." he said softly as he looked in her eyes. "I know I probably shouldn't have done that, but, I don't know. . ." he trailed off. She smiled a little.  
  
"It's okay." she said. "It means you've grown up, even if it is just a little bit."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I was something you lusted over and your common decency, because I'm sentient, kept you from pushing it. Now, I think you might have done that for the right reasons." she said as she stood up.  
  
"But you're still leaving." he said, a little rejected.  
  
"No I'm not." she said as some soft music came on. "I just figured I'd teach you something tonight." she said as she pulled him up. He was always dancing to that fast music and sat the slow ones out and she decided it was time to put a stop to it.  
  
"So," he asked, "does this mean we're, uh . . ."  
  
"Something?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"I think we might be." she said with a smile as she layed her head on his shoulder. He got a croked smile on his face.  
  
"I think I like that idea."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 


End file.
